The DUP leader has accused the British government of making a mockery of democracy by allowing Sinn Fein to remain in the political process while Provisional IRA "punishment" attacks continue.
"The government's handling of the political process in Northern Ireland is disgraceful," Dr Paisley said. "Their refusal to expel IRA/Sinn Fein from the political process, their blatant denial of the increase in inhumane beatings, and their indecent haste to release terrorist prisoners are all evidence of the fact that peace is being held to ransom by the IRA."
He criticised the Northern Secretary, Dr Mowlam, for calling for "compromise". "She is deliberately and wrongly equating surrender to IRA threats with political concessions from unionists. "The two are not equal. The terrorists are not the same as the democrats and we must not even permit them to be treated with any validity or equality.
"The government is asking too much. It is demanding that democracy concedes ground to the threat of terror. Democracy cannot concede any more. It is time for the government to demand, expect and extract concessions from the terrorists to the democratic process."
Dr Paisley said the British government must allow the political process to move forward without the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein. "The government must deliver on its promise to remove the gun from our politics and must do this despite the blatant refusal by IRA/Sinn Fein to concede on the vital issue of decommissioning.
"It is high time for Tony Blair to match his fine rhetoric in May with firm resolve. He pledged then that there would be no place in the executive unless violence was over for good and that prisoners would go back to jail if violence returned. We are now at crisis point and before the crisis becomes a calamity the government has a duty to act on these pledges."