No Northern Ireland elections before new year, says minister

Poll date deferred amid claims EU and UK near agreement on some controversial Brexit arrangements

Fresh elections for the Northern Ireland assembly have been put back to the new year amid claims that the EU and the UK are close to agreement on some elements of the controversial Brexit arrangements that have caused a Democratic Unionist party (DUP) boycott of Stormont.

The Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, had said an election would be called last Friday, the deadline for the resumption of power-sharing. But all parties warned such an outcome would be reckless and would not end the impasse over the Northern Ireland protocol.