Statement

WHY THE SILENCE FROM UUP AND THE TORIES? 

Posted on: August 26, 2009

North Down DUP Assembly Member Peter Weir has said that the UUP and their Tory bosses are at variance over policing and justice issues. The DUP MLA was speaking out after both parties refused to answer questions he put to them concerning their policy paper published this week, when contacted by journalists.

Speaking today Mr. Weir said: 

“The policy paper published this week by the UUP demonstrates that they do not trust their Tory bosses. The refusal to comment confirms my suspicion that the Tory Party does not agree with the proposed five-year delay in the full devolution of policing and justice powers. Are they trying to spare Reg Empey’s blushes by maintaining a silence? They aren’t too shy about attacking other people, why the sudden outbreak of modesty? We are also left to conclude that the Tories have not agreed to the establishment of a contingency fund for Northern Ireland as proposed by the UUP.

If neither of these proposals had been authorised by the Tory Party what does that say about the position of the UUP? If the content of the document published this week has not been approved by the Tories it shows that Reg Empey’s assertion that the UUP would have a direct impact on Tory policy has been exposed as bluff.

The fact that neither party is prepared to answer my questions confirms my assertion that there is no trust between them. As I said before, getting David Cameron over to sprinkle a bit of star-dust on a UUP conference is one thing: getting a good deal for Northern Ireland is quite another. If the UUP cannot even agree policy with their own Tory partners, how can they possibly defend Northern Ireland? The lack of trust on both sides demonstrates that this political dalliance between the UUP and the Tories is utterly devoid of principle and lacking any cohesive policy” said the MLA.