We will not be bullied, says UUP leader Sir Reg Empey

[Peikko 1,575]

The Ulster Unionists said today they would not be "bullied" into backing a deal to complete the Northern Ireland peace process, amid intense pressure on the party from Washington and London to support a vote to devolve police and justice powers to Stormont.

George Bush made a direct plea to David Cameron to exert pressure on the UUP, with which the Conservatives have agreed an electoral pact.

But, ahead of a vote on the policing deal today, the UUP leader, Sir Reg Empey, rejected the overtures. "We are prepared to go forward and look to the future but not under the cosh of all this blackmail and bullying," he said.

The UUP party executive confirmed last night that it would vote against the devolution of policing and criminal justice powers to Belfast. The unanimous decision means that the once-mighty UUP, which governed Northern Ireland from 1921 until direct rule was imposed in 1972, will be the only member of the four-party power sharing executive that will vote no today.

The Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin, which brokered the agreement on policing last month, will join the SDLP in voting for the deal.

The widow of the first Police Service of Northern Ireland officer murdered by dissident republicans today appealed for an end to political bickering at Stormont.

Kate Carroll, whose husband Stephen was shot dead by the Continuity IRA last March, said it was time the politicians put aside their divisions in the interest of peace.

In a call to a local radio station, Carroll said: "This morning has been very, very hard for me, and I would just ask everyone in Stormont to please get on with their job."

In a direct message to the Ulster Unionist party, she added: "I am pleading on this day that is so important to me that it's not worth it. Life is too short. It is heartbreaking that I have to get on this morning to please ask the politicians to get on with their job."

The decision by the UUP to oppose what London describes as the final piece in the jigsaw of the 1998 Good Friday agreement will come as a blow to Cameron. The Tory leader supports the devolution of policing powers to Belfast but appears to have failed to persuade his political allies in Northern Ireland to follow his lead.

But Empey, who is minister for employment and learning in the executive, believes it is foolish to devolve the final set of powers while the coalition is struggling to function. A meeting between the UUP and the Sinn Féin deputy first minster, Martin McGuinness, broke up after just three minutes last night.

The prospect of a UUP no vote has also caused alarm in the US. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, yesterday pleaded with Empey in a phone call to support the deal. The Guardian understands that the White House was so concerned that the US economic envoy to Northern Ireland, Declan Kelly, also persuaded Bush to intervene.

The former president telephoned Cameron last Friday to ask him to plead with Empey to endorse the deal. While the UUP does not have enough votes to scupper the deal, political leaders in the US fear a no vote from the UUP could undermine support for the settlement within the DUP and among the wider unionist community.

"There was a feeling that a conservative-to-conservative conversation was the right way to go about this," said one source familiar with the transatlantic negotiations. "This conversation was borne out of the concern that Empey is holding out."

Another source familiar with the contact said: "This is the most active thing George W Bush has done in his post-presidency period. He has been incredibly restrained and diplomatic since leaving the White House. He has maintained radio silence."

One source familiar with thinking on Northern Ireland on both sides of the Atlantic added: "The fact that George W Bush has decided to intervene is really significant. He was interested in the peace process as president and appointed an envoy. It is a general sign of how concerned people are in the US about what David Cameron is up to."

Owen Paterson, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, confirmed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning that Bush had phoned Cameron. He would not give any details of the call but said the former president had had "a very constructive and friendly conversation" with the Tory leader.

A Tory source said: "It was a positive conversation. David underlined his commitment to the agreement and said we are doing all we can to support it. But he said that we cannot force Sir Reg to vote for it. George Bush thanked David and said: 'I can see you are engaged.'"

A group of US Congressmen wrote to Cameron last month to issue a stark warning that dissident terrorists will be "emboldened" to intensify their attacks if he fails to persuade the Tories' partners to endorse the final stage of the peace process.

Cameron has faced pressure in recent weeks over his decision to form an electoral pact with the UUP, which could provide him with crucial support in Westminster if the general election leads to a hung parliament. The pact has prompted fears in Washington that the Tory leader might abandon the even-handed approach to Northern Ireland that was adopted by John Major.

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The final part of the Northern Ireland devolution deal was put in place today, giving the province its first justice minister since the Troubles erupted four decades ago.

Nationalists and unionists in the Stormont parliament voted together to create the new justice ministry, completing the last act of the Good Friday agreement.

But there was discord inside the Stormont parliament after the Conservatives' allies in Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionists, and their 18-strong assembly team, voted against the move.

Despite an 11th hour intervention by David Cameron imploring the UUP to vote yes, the party refused to back the historic measure.

The party's stance puts Cameron in a difficult position: he is in favour of the devolution of justice to Belfast, but his electoral pact with the UUP risks exposing him to criticism that a Conservative government could not claim to be an "honest broker" when there are disagreements between the parties at Stormont.

Today's vote came just before 5pm, when 88 assembly members from Sinn Féin and the DUP joined the SDLP and smaller parties to back the transfer of policing and judicial powers to Belfast.

But the UUP resisted pressure – from, among others, former US president George Bush – to support the measure. Speaking on the assembly floor, Sir Reg Empey, the UUP leader, said his party had voted no "as a democratic political party pledged to making power-sharing work in an inclusive manner for all the people of Northern Ireland, and we exercise our rights refusing to bow to the blackmail and bullying to which we have been subjected in recent weeks."

The deputy first minister, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, earlier denounced the UUP stance, claiming it was intended to embarrass the DUP.

"The UUP declared last night that they will not support this resolution," McGuinness told the assembly.

"That saddens and disappoints me. They are opposed in my view to the transfer for cynical party political reasons."

In a statement after the vote, Gordon Brown praised the parties which backed the deal. "Today the politics of progress have finally replaced the politics of division in Northern Ireland," the prime minister said. "The completion of devolution, supported by all sections of the community in Northern Ireland, is the final end to decades of strife. It sends the most powerful message to those who would return to violence: that democracy and tolerance will prevail.

"The courage and leadership of the parties who voted to complete devolution at Stormont will be noted around the world."

The Conservatives welcomed the vote, initially without mentioning the UUP's rejection of the move. A Tory spokesman said: "We welcome the fact that devolution of policing and justice is going to happen. We wanted all four parties to be involved and for it to be decided by local politicians."

In a later statement, Cameron said: "We have long supported the devolution of policing and justice powers. Following today's vote this will now go ahead. Throughout this process the Conservative party has at all times sought to play a constructive role, and we will naturally support the legislation at Westminster to give effect to the will of the Assembly."

Cameron acknowedged that the Ulster Unionists voted against the deal because of concerns about how the executive was working, and said he hoped the issues could be resolved."We want to move Northern Ireland politics forward – to focus on the issues that affect people in their everyday lives – rather than remaining stuck in the past.

"That is why we remain totally committed to bringing national, mainstream UK politics to Northern Ireland and to ending its semi-detached political status. Conservatives and unionists, working together, will not be deflected from that task."

The Liberal Democrats attacked the Tory position. Alistair Carmichael, their spokesman on Northern Ireland, said: "With the UUP saying one thing, and the Tories saying the complete opposite, voters will struggle to understand what exactly joint Tory-UUP candidates stand for. What we're seeing is the Tories in complete disarray. When it takes George Bush to step in as the voice of reason, it's clear that David Cameron has dug himself a very big hole."

Carmichael added: "This raises serious questions about David Cameron's judgment. If he can't manage to steer a straight course in opposition, how on earth would he cope as prime minister?"

Earlier there was acrimony in the Great Hall at Stormont when a victims' campaigner attempted to serve a civil writ against McGuinness.

Willie Frazer of the group Families Acting for Innocent Relatives threw the legal document in McGuinness's direction after the deputy first minister refused to take it off him. Frazer is taking a civil action in Belfast high court against the Sinn Féin MP because he alleges McGuinness directed the IRA's campaign during the Troubles. The south Armagh unionist's father was shot dead by the IRA.

The FAIR spokesman said he had chosen yesterday because the DUP "had betrayed me and other victims" by agreeing to devolve policing and justice powers. Frazer predicted that Sinn Féin would exercise a major influence over the police and judiciary even though the centrist, non-sectarian Alliance party leader, David Ford, will be the first justice minister.

Frazer said: "I am very disappointed in the DUP because for years they said the things victims wanted to hear and now they have done a complete somersault. All along they told me that Sinn Féin would never get their hands on policing and justice but they have a say. Mr Ford is answerable to the executive and that means the deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness. That is why the only action left to me is a civil action. I feel very let down by a number of DUP people."

The DUP will suffer at the polls for this U-turn, Frazer predicted.

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I'd say that was Bush 1 Cameron 0

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lol wut?

[Peikko 1,575]

Basically, the Conservatives have a political alliance with the Ulster Unionists. Bush asked Cameron to use whatever political muscle he could conjour up to lean on the Unionists to make them support the deal. Cameron put in a report of "tried but failed". Basically, he didn't really try hard enough is the consensus - although I will acknowledge that the Unionists are stubborn bastards. That puts Cameron on the back foot on this issue in terms of his election chances in the next few months - he looks feeble and if he carries on like this, he could hand the election back to Labour which would not be a good thing.