UUP: Drop Plan B threat
By Noel McAdam
28 June 2006
Ulster Unionists last night demanded the Government drop its ‘Plan B’ for enhanced North-South co-operation in the event of an Assembly collapse.
On the eve of a visit from Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, the UUP said the “so-called Plan B” should be withdrawn until there is more clarity about Plan A - the return of devolution.
In a submission to the Council of Europe, sent earlier yesterday to Secretary of State Peter Hain and Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern, the party accused the Government of flagrantly breaching international standards on human rights enshrined in protections provided in the Good Friday Agreement.
“The Government sets deadlines - and we accept November 24 will mean the end of the Assembly - and also says ‘you must get into government with Sinn Fein’ yet it has failed to meet its own obligations,” senior Ulster Unionist Dermot Nesbitt said.
Mr Nesbitt, who will be meeting Mr Blair and Mr Ahern on Thursday with party leader Sir Reg Empey, said he would be seeking answers over the two governments’ rationale for shifting towards an increased role for the Republic in the event of a failure to reach agreement by November 24.
