The police implementation plan for Northern Ireland released
by the Government contains proposals which would work to the
serious detriment of law-enforcement in the Province and Unionists
should not be signing up to it until the required amendments
are made to make it acceptable to the greater number of people.
Most of the proposals on policing were made at the behest
of pan-nationalism, with the R.U.C. dismembered to suit the
agenda of Sinn Fein and the S.D.L.P.
The R.U.C. name and symbols are being phased out, the force
is being considerably downsized by half from a 13,000-member
ratio at a time when crime is on the increase, with the full-time
reserve being wound up and the strength of the Special Branch
reduced from 800 to 400 officers.
Undemocratic voting procedures are also being proposed to
allow a minority of nationalist/republicans to carry decisions
on the new policing board and there is also the totally unacceptable
proposals for convicted terrorists to sit on the policing
board and district policing watchdog committees set up in
various areas.
These proposed measures are the latest installment in the
appeasement catalogue falling to republicans and nationalists
from the Belfast Agreement and for Unionist politicians to
accept such a package would only lead to further disillusionment
and isolation within the pro-Union community.
Failure to achieve I.R.A. decommissioning makes untenable
the working of the Northern Ireland Assembly Executive with
continued Sinn Fein membership and, if Unionists are to have
any chance of halting further Government appeasement, they
must unite to tell Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Ministers
that enough is enough.
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