Policing and Justice

In an article in the Belfast Telegraph on Thursday, August 27, Sir Reg wrote:

I was more than a little concerned by your Viewpoint of August 19 and the line, "The other obstacle is the Ulster Unionist Party\'s alliance with the TUV."

The UUP does not have an alliance with the TUV and has never had an alliance with the TUV. It may suit Martin McGuinness to peddle that particular line (in much the same way as he seeks to annoy the DUP by claiming that he and Peter Robinson are singing from the same sheet on Policing and Justice), but I think that your repeating of Mr. McGuinnessÂ' line in Viewpoint is open to misinterpretation by your readers.

The UUP happens to agree with the TUV on two points:

1) The DUP has u-turned on just about every pledge it made between 2003 and 2007---which is why the TUV was formed in the first place and why it has attracted so many former DUP voters. It is not the case, as Viewpoint says, of the UUP bearing \'ill-will towards the DUPÂ'; but rather our determination not to allow the DUP to continue with the pretence that it and it alone is responsible for the huge progress made here since the mid-1990s.

2) Also, we agree with the TUV that the \'unionist confidence\' which Peter Robinson sets so much store by does not, at the moment, exist for the devolution of Policing and Justice in the form supported by Sinn Fein and the DUP. The very fact that the Euro election proved that the DUP no longer speaks for a majority of unionism would indicate that great caution is now required on this issue.

Those points aside, the UUP does not agree with Jim AllisterÂ's broader analysis of political issues and devolution generally---as he does not agree with ours, either. The UUP has a longstanding commitment to power-sharing and devolved government.

The UUP is not opposed to the devolution of Policing and Justice and hasn\'t been opposed to it in the past.

We do have concerns, though, that the arrangements between the DUP and Sinn Fein (part of a package deal to end 155 days of the Executive not meeting) amount to a stitch-up which will result in a puppet minister subject to joint control, permanent veto and answerable only to the OFMDFM.

That, in our opinion, will lead to a situation in which it may actually become impossible for a Minister, let alone the Executive, to make key decisions on Policing and Justice issues. Or, worse still, the Minister will simply go solo---which is exactly what is happening at the moment with Caitriona Ruane!

Policing and Justice is much too important to be the subject of a side-deal and sunset clauses. It needs to be got right, right from the point of devolution. UUP reservations are based entirely on our view that the DUP-Sinn Fein arrangements do not amount to getting it right.