Allister dismisses Blair's statement
04 January 2007
Statement by DUP MEP Jim Allister:
“Tony Blair’s statement today seeks to jockey the DUP into a position in conflict with the declared policy of its Central Executive, namely that in advance of any start to inclusive devolution there must be testing and proving of Sinn Fein support for the rule of law and policing over a “credible period”. Blair, now tries to make this the test for devolution of policing and justice when he erroneously says, “It is delivery on those commitments that creates the conditions for devolution of policing and justice to take place. When there is delivery, there will be devolution.”
Wrong Mr Blair, our testing of Sinn Fein is a pre-requisite to any devolution, not just devolution of policing and justice, which is patently in the far distant future.
Thus, applying the test of Party policy, Blair’s contention must be rejected.
As I see it we have no room for manoeuvre on this perquisite of full testing of any verbal commitments over a credible period before devolution of any inclusive form could be contemplated. I’m already on record as saying such cannot not be done by 26 March 2007, even if Sinn Fein did what they are now retreating from. So if Mr Blair thinks he can bounce us not only into government by 26 March 2007 but into devolution of policing and Justice by May 2008, he is, in my opinion, very mistaken. We have nothing more to give.”
