The Conservatives yesterday warned they would break Westminster's bipartisan policy on Northern Ireland if the Labour government reneges on Mr John Major's pledge of "a triple-lock consent for any settlement". The warning came from the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Mr Andrew Mackay, at a packed fringe meeting organised by the Unionist Information Office. Mr Mackay, sharing the platform with the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, and Viscount Cranborne, said it would be "hypocritical and opportunist" for the Tories to abandon the bipartisan approach while government policy "remains inextricably linked to the six Mitchell principles that we helped negotiate".
But he added that the bipartisan policy must never become a mantra to be preserved at all costs. Reserving his right to criticise aspects of government policy, he said he would "need much convincing that ending internment is right".
With the Prime Minister's visit to Northern Ireland expected next week, Mr Mackay told Mr Blair: "Check your advice carefully before agreeing to shake hands with Gerry Adams. Any such republican publicity stunt, I believe, would be somewhat premature until Sinn Fein-IRA have earned democratic credentials.
"Remember how embarrassed President Clinton was to find shortly after he shook hands with Gerry Adams the ceasefire was broken with the bombing of Canary Wharf."
Mr Trimble was also critical of the plan to scrap internment powers, warning that renewed violence would follow Sinn Fein's discovery that it could not get what it wanted from the talks.
And he reopened the decommissioning issue, suggesting that Tories should seek Sinn Fein's expulsion from the talks if decommissioning of weapons did not happen. "I doubt Sinn Fein will carry out any decommissioning," he said. "But the entire process is founded on the expectation that they will. And if they do not there will be consequences."
While Mr Trimble said he would apologise to no one for defending unionism within the process, he starkly underlined the limits of his party's approach to the negotiations.
Expressing concern about unionist divisions, Lord Cranborne urged Mr Trimble to ensure that the unionist parties, whether in or out of the talks, "make an effort to agree a bottom line beyond which unionists will not go".
In reply Mr Trimble said that, while he would not make his bottom line public, the Joint Framework Documents were "very definitely below the bottom line . . . and will remain below the bottom line".