Unionist delay over policing reform

Unionist parties in Northern Ireland have ignored the Secretary of State’s Tuesday August 21 policing deadline and decided to take more time in reaching their decision to the proposals.

The delay by the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party however, has been accepted by Secretary of State Dr John Reid who acknowledged that it would take a little longer for all the parties to be ready to respond to the policing package.

The SDLP, meanwhile, have already accepted the police package and are the first party to do so. Sinn Féin have rejected the implementation plan, describing it as “deeply flawed” and said that it was “not the last word” on policing. Fermanagh South Tyrone MP Michelle Gildernew said: “Even those who have accepted the British government proposals on policing admit that the threshold of Patten has not yet been met and that work remains to be done.”

Hardline Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside said that his party would respond to the policing plan within the next five weeks. He explained that the party had a number of issues to consider and would be discussing the implementation plan, security normalisation and decommissioning. Earlier on Tuesday UUP leader David Trimble held a telephone conversation with Dr Reid to discuss his party’s concerns over policing.

DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson explained his party would not be meeting the Tuesday deadline set by the Secretary of State primarily because his party had been excluded throughout the whole consultative process with the pro-Agreement parties over the summer.

He said: “The DUP received the updated Implementation Plan on the same morning it was publicly released and the Secretary of State now has the audacity to suggest that the DUP, in spite of the disadvantage he places them in, should respond within two working days. It will not happen.”

He said that the DUP would meet on Thursday August 23 to discuss the plan and would then make their decision clear. (AMcE)