THE unionist morning daily newspaper, the News Letter, has angrily denied a claim by the former Ulster Unionist leader, Lord Molyneaux, that it published an editorial which had a substantial input from the Downing Street press officer, Mr Alistair Campbell.
The controversial "Morning View" column on May 17th called on party leaders to implement the Belfast Agreement "by striking a deal which will establish a devolved administration while bringing militant republicanism irrevocably into an exclusively democratic process".
It called on the North's First Minister, Mr Trimble, to keep Sinn Fein involved in the process "provided he can broker a deal guaranteeing a start to decommissioning early in the Executive's lifetime". The editor ial angered many unionists who insist that decommissioning must take place prior to Sinn Fein's joining the executive.
At a meeting of the anti-greement group Union First in Coleraine, Co Derry, last weekend, Lord Molyneaux accused the News Letter of treachery and of an "astonishing surrender".
He said that Mr Trimble had been "stubborn" with Downing Street on May 15th. "Alistair Campbell was unleashed. He consulted David Montgomery [the former chief executive of the Mirror Group which owns the News Letter] and an editorial was drafted on Sunday afternoon.
"It was supplied to the editor of the News Letter who eagerly agreed to print it on Monday morning and very significantly also agreed to supply a release of it at 4 a.m. on Monday to the Press Association before the News Letter appeared on the streets."
However, News Letter editor Mr Geoff Martin claimed yesterday that this scenario was "pure fiction" and demanded that Lord Molyneaux apologise immediately.
He denied that Downing Street, the Northern Ireland Office, or any other source had influenced the opinion expressed in the "Morning View" editorial.
"The News Letter editor was not in touch with either Mr Campbell or Mr Montgomery before he wrote last Monday's editorial. Nor was anything supplied from Downing Street or from anyone acting on their behalf," he said.