The Conservative Party's spokesman on Northern Ireland, Mr Quentin Davies MP, said the British Government's handling of the crisis in the North was "extremely irresponsible and extremely foolish".
Speaking from the Tory Party conference in Bournemouth, Mr Davies said the Assembly should not be suspended and the "incredibly inept" way ministers had dealt with Sinn Féin had caused the crisis. The Government had done nothing about previous "Sinn Féin/IRA" breaches of the ceasefire, he told Sky News. "For a year now I have been telling them first of all they should be responding when there are breaches of the ceasefire, not burying their heads in the sand," he said.
"They haven't done that and that has produced a crisis at the present time.
"Secondly I have said under no circumstances should they make continuing unilateral concessions let alone to people who have not fulfilled their own obligations and they have done that."