Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley made her first blunder in the new job today when she suggested the DUP would only get £1billion for propping the Tories up if powersharing is restored.
The small unionist party promised Theresa May their ten MPs would back her in major parliamentary votes in return for the major cash injection.
But Mrs Bradley suggested the spending taps would only be fully turned on if the party got devolution back up and running in Stormont, where it has been suspended for a year.
She said: ‘A budget that’s going to be administered needs ministers to administer it,’ she said. It needs Stormont to do it.’
But she scrambled to U-turn on the inaccurate comments telling reporters that her remarks had been ‘clumsy’ and the money would be delivered in any event.
The gaffe comes just over a week after the Prime Minister promoted her to the job in her Cabinet reshuffle.
Earlier today Mrs Bradley had given squabbling politicians in Northern Ireland two weeks to strike a deal and return to Stormont or face direct rule from Westminster.
Karen Bradley (pictured with irish foriegn minsiter Simon Coveney) outside Stormont today)is launching a fresh round of talks to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland as she warned squabbling politicians they have ‘one last chance’ to reach an agreement
She said talks will begin again on Wednesday and that a failure to make ‘rapid progress’ would mean ministers in Whitehall would draw up their Budget for them.
She said that if Sinn Fein and the Unionists cannot do a deal to return to government then direct rule will be imposed from Westminster.
While Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney warned that a deal must be secured in ‘weeks rather than months’.
Speaking at Stormont today Mrs Bradley said: ‘What has quickly become clear to me is that time is short and one last opportunity to reach agreement remains.
‘Without agreement we will be facing a set of political consequences that will represent a significant setback to the progress made since the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998, almost twenty years ago.
‘Over the past eight months the political parties, particularly the DUP and Sinn Fein, have made progress in closing the gaps existing between them on a range of difficult issues that have prevented the formation of an Executive.
The gaps are narrow, but there are still significant differences to overcome.’
Stormont has been suspended for a year maid a bitter row between the unionist DUP and republican Sinn Fein who are refusing to enter into a government together.
The two parties have clashed over the introduction of an Irish language bill and a public spending scandal.
The clock is ticking on reaching agreement as the devolved region needs to set a Budget for its public services.
The new Northern Ireland Secretary ([pictured in Northern Ireland today) said negotiations will begin again on Wednesday as politicians were warned they have just weeks to do a deal
In her first major speech on the crisis since being promoted to the Cabinet job in last week’s reshuffle, Mrs Bradley said she hopes the talks will thrash out the issues and broker an agreement.
But she added: ‘I will be updating Parliament in Westminster no later than 7 February on progress.
‘Without rapid progress, the UK Government will face significant decisions.’
She added: ‘My clear focus now, however, must be to see devolution restored, an Executive established and the progress that Northern Ireland has made over the past two decades continue.
‘And that is what I intend to do in the coming weeks.’
Mr Coveney said all parties were ‘very conscious of the time pressures’.
He said: ‘I think we are talking about weeks rather than months here.
‘The pressures have been building for some months now in the context of decisions that need political input from a devolved government here in Northern Ireland that can’t be made in the absence of the being possible.’