Quentin Davies: Backing elections

Number 10 is confident that elections in Northern Ireland will go ahead despite the continuing uncertainty among political parties.

The May 29 date "remains in the diary", the prime minister's official spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.

As campaigning formally begins in Northern Ireland, the government had come under pressure to say whether the assembly elections would go ahead.

Contact was continuing with the political parties, with the focus on the "substance" of getting clarity from the IRA rather than the "mechanics" of sticking to processes.

"We're deliberately not getting into deadlines. Everybody knows because of the elections that time is short," said Number 10.

Tuesday saw the formal launch of the Democratic Unionist Party's election campaign, while a series of election broadcasts are scheduled to be broadcast over the coming evenings.

British and Irish ministers are continuing to seek clarity from the IRA over whether it intends to give up all forms of paramilitary activity and declare that "the war is over".

The Stormont executive is currently suspended and the absence of a deal for putting the peace process back on track means the assembly members elected next month will not be able to take up their seats.

The possibility of elections to an institution that does not exist has led to doubts about whether ministers will allow the voting to go ahead.

But the May 29 date is now set in legislation, and any change would require a new law to be rushed through parliament.

And notices of the election were published in Ulster newspapers on Tuesday, announcing that the election would take place as currently scheduled.

While the government still appears to hope that enough agreement can be found to allow the elections to proceed, key parties have insisted on permitting the ballot to go ahead even in the absence of a deal.

But without what the prime minister has described as a "positive framework" for the elections there are fears that only those regarded as extremists will benefit - causing immense difficulties for the power-sharing executive should the institutions be re-established.

Entering the debate, the Conservatives indicated they may not cooperate should ministers seek to rush new legislation through parliament.

"I think it would be very difficult for the government to postpone these elections again without Conservative Party support," said shadow Northern Ireland secretary Quentin Davies.

"I do not think the government wants to go back to the House of Commons cap in hand and push through legislation for the second time this year postponing elections."

He added that overriding constitutional rules would be "damaging to the peace process and damaging to the credibility of the democratic process".

And former first minister David Trimble also called for a definitive statement from ministers.

"The further we get along the line, the greater the irony of the situation will be," the Ulster Unionist leader told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The big question is whether the institutions can be reinstated."

Trimble accepted that ministers had been working hard on the issue but added that "the way things stand at the moment, they have not succeeded".

"They need to think very carefully now about what they do," he said. "The government is going to find itself running out of road very quickly."