Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain is under pressure to clarify whether former paramilitaries - including people with convictions for terrorist offences - will be allowed to participate in community restorative justice schemes in the North.
Criminal justice minister David Hanson has insisted there is "absolutely no question" of the British government permitting the creation of "a two-tier system of justice" in the North.
Announcing the next stages of consultation about the role of restorative justice schemes in dealing with low-level crime in local communities, Mr Hanson sought to reassure unionist and SDLP critics that the involvement of the PSNI in such schemes would be "non-negotiable".
In a written parliamentary statement issued on Wednesday, Mr Hanson said: "The guidelines will unambiguously specify the involvement of the police and other statutory criminal justice organisations in the operation of the community-based schemes."
That failed to satisfy DUP MP Nigel Dodds, who warned the British government "not to hide behind the use of ambiguous language on what is an issue of fundamental importance". The DUP, he said, would not tolerate "a situation that allows local thugs to police their own areas under the auspices of so-called community justice and without any reference to the police".
Mr Dodds said the minister's statement about the involvement of the police was "vague" and did not indicate that the PSNI would be involved "in every stage of these schemes". That concern was echoed by Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman David Lidington, who said that when the government previously legislated to set up restorative justice schemes - based on youth conferences for young offenders - it had made it a legal requirement for the police to be present at all times during such conferences. But now, said Mr Lidington, "the government - while saying vaguely that the police will be 'involved' - does not give a commitment that there will be a requirement for police to be present at all stages of the restorative justice schemes that it intends to bring forward".
Mr Lidington said the British government's "failure to come clean" on this issue had fuelled suspicions of the kind that had been voiced by the policing board, as well as unionists, the SDLP and others.
And last night Mr Lidington gave voice to fresh suspicions and concerns when he wrote to Mr Hain pressing for clarification about the recruitment and vetting procedures to determine the suitability of people running the schemes.