Ulster Unionist Party Leader, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has said that intervention powers against Sinn Fein were negotiated out of existence by the DUP at St Andrews.
Mr Nesbitt said:
"I heard Arlene Foster on the radio this morning attempting to rewrite history claiming that there were no mechanisms built into the Belfast Agreement to allow an intervention against Sinn Fein. That is not true. There were such mechanisms, but the DUP negotiated them out of existence at St. Andrews.
"Under the Northern Ireland Act 2000 Theresa Villiers could have stepped in to suspend the Assembly if there was a crisis, but this power was thrown away at St Andrews in 2006 as a sop to Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams who did not want London to be able to exercise such powers here. The Ulster Unionist Party opposed this move.
"On 10th May 2007 the suspension powers under the Mandelson Act as it was called, were repealed following the 2006 St Andrews deal.
"Now we have the spectacle of Peter Robinson travelling to London to ask David Cameron to save the First Minister's skin by bringing in emergency legislation to return powers to the Secretary of State to suspend the Assembly. Anything to avoid making a tough decision."