Sammy Wilson

I think, Jill, it's largely context.

It certainly was possible for executives to agree budgets, difficult budgets in the past, like the finance minister, Sammy Wilson, in 2011, agreed the last three-year budget at a time when George Osborne's austerity agenda was in full flow.

What I think is different now is that it has become, the burden of delivering a health service at a time when we have an aging population and huge pressures on that service, that I think has overwhelmed the executive's ability to deliver balanced budgets for the whole executive.

I think on top of that, and it's already been touched on by others, every time there's a crisis in Northern Ireland, a political crisis, the last thing that is resolved is a financial package to sort of smooth the agreement.

I think

Sammy Wilson, did he resign the chief whip role in the party over that? Yeah,

he did the parliamentary whip at that time.

Now, Kenton, what do you think of the latest Andy Burnham agreement then, the SBS trade deal that he seems to have negotiated with Brussels that's going to take away a terrible lot of the border and the Irish sea friction?

It's looking at, and I think Ben mentioned you have the three my generation MPs, all in their 70s, all whom want out, all of whom want to retire, would have been happy to retire I think last time.

The DUP has to find three new candidates who are going to be capable of bringing all the history and publicity and PR and recognition that people like Gregory Campbell and Sammy Wilson and Jim Shannon brought with them.

Whatever you say about them, they were capable of winning seats.

The DUP at the minute does not have That bunch of candidates.

That is true.

Carla Lockhart's majority at the last Westminster election was 7,400 and that's almost twice as much as the combined majority of Gavin Robinson, Sammy Wilson and Gregory Campbell.

If you look at aspects of Carla Lockhart's letter, she goes into the legal detail of what would happen if the DUP pulled Emma Little-Pengelly and therefore effectively sacked Michelle O'Neill as First Minister.

She goes into a lot of legal detail.

These are all important things that will help our small businesses grow.

The DUP's Sammy Wilson also wanted more help for businesses.

The fact of the matter is that we're stagnating because we are taxing the life out of businesses.

We have got the highest tax burden ever.

So anyway, it's something that is causing problems for him back at home.

And there is then a situation where that night, one of his senior MPs, Sammy Wilson, goes to Market Hill.

He's speaking on a platform to an anti-Irish sea border, an anti-Northern Ireland protocol rally.

There's several hundred people.

I think there's a band there.

Jim Allister is on the platform.

And Sammy Wilson is a pretty hardline voice in this.

And he's somebody who hasn't been towing the line.

So anyway, it's something that is causing problems for him back at home.

And there is then a situation where that night, one of his senior MPs, Sammy Wilson, goes to Market Hill.

He's speaking on a platform to an anti-Irish sea border, an anti-Northern Ireland protocol rally.

There's several hundred people.

I think there's a band there.

Jim Allister is on the platform.

And Sammy Wilson is a pretty hardline voice in this.

And he's somebody who hasn't been towing the line.