North's spending controls handed to British civil servant
Control of devolved spending in Northern Ireland will be handed to a British civil servant for the first time today.
The move has been forced by the lack of a powersharing executive, or agreed budget, at the turn of the new financial year.
Despite an extension to the Stormont talks, the permanent secretary of the UK Department of Finance will now take hold of the purse strings.
It comes as Northern secretary James Brokenshire warns direct rule from London remains an option if the extended talks over powersharing fail.
