23/08/2001

Prime Minister comes under attack over NI policy

Prime Minister Tony Blair has come under attack from a former minister within his own party over his "complex game of appeasement" of republicans.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Ulster-born Kate Hoey said that the government had demoralised the Royal Ulster Constabulary at the behest of the paramilitaries.

The Labour MP for Vauxhall, who was sacked in the post-election reshuffle, said she was struck by "the profound sense of disillusionment that exists among good, decent citizens" when she returns home to Northern Ireland.

The former Labour Sports Minister also accused the Prime Minister of failing to honour his promises that the release of paramilitary prisoners and the admission of Sinn Féin to Northern Ireland's executive were dependent on the decommissioning of arms within two years.

Miss Hoey said that former Secretary of State Peter Mandelson was the last Cabinet minister to place “the blame for the crisis in the process precisely where it belongs - with the IRA." (MB)

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