There is a "very big budget black hole" in Northern Ireland's finances, the Northern Ireland Secretary has said.
Chris Heaton-Harris was pressed on Sky News about his decision to extend the deadline for calling a fresh election in Northern Ireland until 19 January.
He said: "Forgive me for being a politician that listens to people, but I did.
"At one minute past midnight on October 28, the responsibility of all ministers disappeared in Northern Ireland. There's a very, very big budget black hole in Northern Ireland's finances and all those responsibilities fell to me.
"I've been talking to all the political parties, I've been talking to businesses, to community groups, to ordinary folk on the streets, and no-one wanted an election.
"I've now done something that creates the time and space for conversations to take place, so the executive hopefully can reform and for conversations to take place between the UK government and the European Commission to try and solve one of the biggest obstacles to that."
would have foreseen the 'ramifications'
The issues arising from the Northern Ireland Protocol will be solved by "negotiations" and "with showing trust and respect with the European Commission", the Northern Ireland Secretary said.
Mr Heaton-Harris said: "The big problem is the protocol for the Unionist community, because it means a whole host of goods are not available in Northern Ireland that should be and are available in the rest of Great Britain. That needs to be solved."
On how he is going to do that, Mr Heaton-Harris replied: "By negotiations, with showing trust and respect with the European Commission.
"I should say that when it (the protocol) was written, I honestly don't think the people behind writing it thought it would have the ramifications.
"Politicians are legislators, legislators are very good at creating law, but when the rubber hits the road, sometimes you get unforeseen consequences."
Pressed on the fact Conservative former prime minister Boris Johnson promised an oven-ready deal with the EU during the 2019 general election campaign, Mr Heaton-Harris said: "It was an oven-ready deal."
"The European Commission, who co-authored the protocol with the UK Government, you know, everybody believed that this would work."
Mr Heaton-Harris said he is not "privy" to all the discussions between the Foreign Secretary and the European Commission about the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Asked if there is a possibility of some kind of breakthrough before Christmas, Mr Heaton-Harris told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm a glass half-full man. I have a reasonable amount of European experience. I know well the interlocutors out there. And what I did and what I said yesterday is I've created some time and space for two things to happen.
"One, for me to talk to the parties in Northern Ireland and try and bring them together, but two, so the UK Government and the European Commission have got time and space to have these important conversations."
which is likely to be cut by around a third by Christmas
Questioned on whether the UK Government is still insisting that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) cannot be the final arbiter in any dispute, he said: "I'm afraid I'm not the negotiator here. It's James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, with his European counterpart, Maros Sefcovic.
"And I'm not privy to all of their conversations or what's going on behind the scenes completely. But, as you said, these negotiations, these talks, everybody has high expectations."
He told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme that he has to cut the salaries of all MLAs, rather than singling out the DUP.
"There has been legal opinion taken in the past by former secretaries of state that demonstrate it would be unbelievably difficult and judicially reviewed if I didn't do it in a fair and proportionate way, which is what this is," he said.
He also defended his decision not to extend deadlines earlier, saying: "Everyone had been hoping ... that we'd have been able to demonstrate to the unionist community and their elected representatives that work was afoot on the major problem ... the Northern Ireland Protocol."
"I was talking to all the political parties, I was talking to business representative groups, I was talking to community groups, I was talking to people on the street, and I did clock that people were saying that no-one wants an election before Christmas, so forgive me for being a politician that listens," he said.
'Complete and utter tosh'
Mr Heaton-Harris clarified that he has not resigned from his role after he said someone had spread a fake email about him.
Hello Twitter!
— Chris Heaton-Harris MP (@chhcalling) November 9, 2022
Someone has sent a fake e-mail to press outlets saying I've resigned.
This is totally untrue. I hope one of @elonmusk first moves is to eliminate fake news on Twitter…
Very exciting I know, but complete and utter tosh.
The fake statement was emailed to print titles on the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) circulation list yesterday evening.
The Conservative MP described the content of the email as "complete and utter tosh" and called on Elon Musk to eliminate fake news on Twitter as one of his first moves as chief executive of the tech giant.
Mr Heaton-Harris said: "Hello Twitter! Someone has sent a fake e-mail to press outlets saying I've resigned.
"This is totally untrue. I hope one of @elonmusk first moves is to eliminate fake news on Twitter... Very exciting I know, but complete and utter tosh."
