Ask any politician to name a word they hate and chances are it begins with U.
It has been used countless times since Liz Truss did her screeching U-turn on tax rates, tainting her first Conservative conference as prime minister this week.
But could her Northern Ireland secretary soon do a U-turn of his own?
Chris Heaton-Harris has repeatedly said he will call another Stormont election if there is no government in place by the end of this month.
The law states the poll must happen within a subsequent 12-week period after 28 October, the current deadline.
In theory if the impasse continued, Mr Heaton-Harris could be pushing a winter election on the parties and the public.
But few politicians and political hacks are yet to be convinced by his threat.
They point to the precedent set by recent Tory administrations to legislate and delay the requirement for an election, a move that happened a number of times during the last Stormont stalemate between 2017 and 2020.
But might the Truss government try a different tack this time?
Keeping up appearances
In private, the consensus still largely appears that the government has been keeping up appearances but will ultimately step in to ensure another election doesn’t have to take place immediately.
One Stormont source told me they were “97% sure” the secretary of state would shift stance at the last second.
The 3% left unsure, they said, was because there has been none of the usual backroom conversations and diplomatic window dressing that tends to happen between governments, parties and officials before such an announcement might be made.
So, with less than a fortnight until the deadline, what might happen?
A) A deal is reached, devolution is restored
Practically impossible, and a lot of parts would need to fall into place quickly for this to happen.
That starts with the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
That is part of the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU and ensures free trade can continue across the Irish land border.
It has been met with protests by unionist politicians for the resulting checks it has placed on some goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
While there has clearly been a shift in tone and language by the UK government and the EU in hopes of finding consensus, there is no a sign a breakthrough is imminent.
Technical talks have started although indications are things could take months, not weeks.
And the uncertainty around Liz Truss’s future as prime minister means the chances of a deal with Brussels appears unlikely at the moment.
Under the current rules, they will cease to be in post by the end of the month and would leave Stormont departments with civil servants keeping things ticking over.
Delaying that into the new year still seems like the most probable option.
In that circumstance, it is likely that the government would also have to pass a budget for Stormont this autumn to deal with building financial pressures.
C) An election is called
Mr Heaton-Harris may well say: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you” to the parties come 28 October, if he follows through.
But it would still be a divisive move.
The last election took place in May and resulted in Sinn Féin returning as the largest party for the first time, on 27 of Stormont’s 90 assembly seats.
