Downing Street defends Cameron departure

Northern Ireland politicians must learn the days when the British Government "could pull a cheque-book from its pocket" to solve problems are over, Downing Street has said.

In the wake of the collapse of the Stormont talks, Downing Street strongly defended the decision by British prime minister David Cameron and Taoiseach Enda Kenny to leave Belfast because there was no prospect of an agreement.

Reacting to Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams’ charge that the governments’ handling of the talks had been “ham-fisted”, No 10 warned: “It might not be what they are used to, but if there isn’t a deal to be done, he is not going to hang about.”

Since 2010, Mr Cameron has kept Northern Ireland at arm's length, preferring not to meet NI leaders frequently. However, he has become more solicitous of the Democratic Unionist Party over recent months since their votes could be influential after next May's general election.

However, there is clear exasperation amongst Mr Cameron and his key staff in No 10 that NI politicians have failed properly to comprehend the level of spending cutbacks that have been imposed in Britain over the last four years.

The forthright language, too, reflects the difficulties many Conservative politicians’ own personal experiences in their own constituencies, where much-cherished public services have faced serious cutbacks.

In particular, Downing Street has rejected the criticisms made about the £1 billion offer in the latest round talks, which would instead allow Stormont to use already-granted powers to borrow £200m-a-year for infrastructure to fund redundancy payments for public servants.

Using the borrowings in that way would quickly bring savings for the NI’s Executive’s budget. “There are departments all across Whitehall who would snap your hands off if they were given that chance,” one source told The Irish Times.“The days of easy money are over, people have to realise this.”

The source said extra money is not going to be produced to break the talks logjam, even if there may be a willingness to find other ways of using existing resources - such as asset sales, perhaps - to pay for ways of finding savings in Northern Ireland’s running costs. “The parties need to get the message. There is no magic wand. The prime minister was very keen to get the message across that there isn’t going to be a cheque-book whipped out of the pocket at the last minute. We are not in that business.”

Spending curbs are not just a Conservative agenda: "People will have heard (Labour leader) Ed Miliband's speech this week. There is no distinction here. It isn't going to make any difference who is in Downing Street."

Meanwhile, the British government is sending the clearest signals that corporation tax powers will not be devolved to Northern Ireland before the May election if the political parties do not agree a talks deal, and quickly.

“There are huge benefits to be won from this, but people need to move quickly. It isn’t going to happen until there is a deal. We can’t be put in a position where this could be given without a deal on the budget,” the Downing Street source said.