DUP leader 'hopes' Carla Lockhart will not leave the party

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson has said he does not want to see Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart leave the party.

Lockhart has called for the DUP to remove First Minister Michelle O'Neill from office by having Emma Little-Pengelly resign from her role as deputy first minister.

However, on Thursday the DUP confirmed that Little-Pengelly would not participate in joint engagements with O'Neill and permission would not be granted for the first minister to operate on a solo basis.

Sinn Féin MP John Finucane called the move "an example of economic sabotage, of self-harm, by the DUP, all because they struggle with internal party cohesion".

It follows unionist anger over Sinn Féin's involvement in protests which prevented a contentious Orange Order parade in Portadown, County Armagh, from passing along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road.

In a letter to party colleagues on Thursday, Lockhart said she would "take her own course" if O'Neill was not removed as first minister.

Other DUP politicians, including assembly member Diane Forsythe, have since backed Lockhart's calls for O'Neill to be removed from office.

Assembly member Maurice Bradley also said that removing O'Neill "would not, in itself, require the assembly to collapse".

A meeting of the party's ruling officer committee was held on Thursday.

Party leader Robinson said the decision among DUP assembly members to cease engagement between the first minister and the deputy first minister was "unanimous".

Lockhart is expected to resign from the party, the Belfast Telegraph has reported.

Robinson said he "hopes" that Lockhart would not leave the party, adding: "We all share the same view that there needs to be political sanctions for the behaviour of Michelle O'Neill."

On Friday, in a post on social media, Lockhart said she will "set out the path ahead early next week".

"My principles and my commitment to the people who put me here will guide that path. I will continue to represent Upper Bann and serve my constituents with every bit of the energy, commitment and vigour I always have," she added.

She said "party political calculations are not my concern" and that "this was a moment for unionism".

Last week, Lockhart stepped down from the party's officer board over Robinson not withdrawing Little-Pengelly to force O'Neill from their joint Stormont office.

Police have said they have built cases against 60 suspects in connection with the Drumcree and Garvaghy Road protests.

Eighteen of those suspects have been interviewed and case files are being prepared before being submitted to the Public Prosecution Service.

On Thursday the DUP blocked O'Neill from attending the National Economic Council.

The meeting was due to be attended by Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the leaders of the UK's devolved nations.

"If anybody steps back and thinks about the pressures on our political institutions, the fragility of our political institutions and would they tolerate it in Scotland, Wales and England - I think the honest answer to that is: no, they would not," Robinson told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

He said his party "will not take steps that will punish the people of Northern Ireland".

"I've been very clear that there is a job of work to do that can only be achieved through the executive and my colleagues will be absolutely, fundamentally principled and absolutely, fundamentally robust in dealing with and for the people of Northern Ireland."

He said the halting of engagements with O'Neill was a consequence of the first minister "stepping outside her pledge of office".

Burnham has said he does not want to see Northern Ireland "left behind" as he expressed disappointment over the first and deputy first ministers being absent from the UK-wide National Economic Council.

Burnham described the absence of the first and deputy first ministers from the summit as "disappointing" but said there was "some representation" in the form of Stormont civil servants.

Burnham said his push for "regional devolution" across England was "moving quickly" and he did not want to see other areas "left behind".

"I don't want to see Scotland left behind, I won't want to see Wales left behind but also crucially I don't want to see Northern Ireland left behind.

"So it's really important that we move at the same pace together and I won't allow anything to delay that growth.

"It can't wait. People need to see improvements in employment and in living standards in all parts of the UK."

Sinn Féin's Finucane said: "Yet again we are dealing with the DUP that is mired in scandal and mired in internal division and the unfortunate reality is that everybody has to suffer as a result of this drama playing out in front of all of us.

"This was a very important meeting that the first minister and deputy first minister should have been at."

Other parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly have been critical of the DUP's move.

Alliance Party assembly member Kate Nicholl said Northern Ireland not being represented at Friday's meeting of the NEC was "so disappointing" and "completely baffling".

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister said "the DUP's sham response today was beyond pathetic", adding: "The DUP is interested only in clinging to office, not principle."

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Jon Burrows said the situation was a "political fudge" that was "all choreography and no consequences".

The move would "probably galvanise Sinn Féin further at the ballot box," he added.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Matthew O'Toole said: "Plunging this place into more political chaos is not a sensible strategic move for unionism."