Can Stormont survive the welfare crisis?

May 22, 2015, 09:33 AM

Yesterday this show revealed the warning from Finance Minister Arlene Foster of a potential £2.8 billion budget black hole. That's if the Assembly rejects the welfare reform bill next Tuesday. Strip away all the technical talk - a £2.8 billion black hole means a meltdown - Ministers resigning, government falling. Writing in the Belfast Telegraph today, DUP First Minister Peter Robinson says the stakes could not be higher

The SDLP are key to whether Sinn Fein's petition of concern to block the welfare reform bill passes or fails next week.

SDLP MLA Fearghal McKinney and Sinn Fein's Conor Murphy and the DUP's Sammy Wilson have been setting out their party's position.