Boris Johnson has urged political parties in Northern Ireland to “roll up your sleeves and get stuck in” by returning to Stormont and restarting government. But the sleeves of Democrat Unionist Party (DUP) politicians remain firmed rolled down.

DUP leaders are refusing to budge, insisting that they won’t allow the formation of a power-sharing executive until the prime minister takes firm action to ditch the previously-agreed protocol checks they hate so very badly.

On Monday the unionist party blocked the election of a speaker for a second time since Sinn Fein triumphed at the recent election – dismissing the recall of the assembly as a “stunt” by the Irish nationalists.