Dr John Reid and Mr David Trimble clashed bitterly in the House of Commons last night over the British government's granting of Westminster facilities and allowances to Sinn FΘin MPs.
Dr Reid, the Northern Ireland Secretary, was clearly stunned by a suggestion from Mr Trimble, Northern Ireland's First Minister, that the Irish Government's response to a similar request from Sinn FΘin over access to Dβil facilities had been "more honest and more rigorous" than that of the British government.
In response, Dr Reid revealed the partial contents of a letter from Mr Trimble to the former Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, which the government had taken to mean its move to grant Sinn FΘin facilities should be postponed until a start had been made to IRA decommissioning.
DUP and anti-agreement unionists looked on with delight as Dr Reid first challenged Mr Trimble to say if he had expressed any view on the issue to the Mandelson consultation in January 2000, and then proceeded to read from the letter.
An enraged Mr Trimble insisted that had Dr Reid conducted a similar consultation before producing yesterday's Commons motion, he [Mr Trimble] would have again said the move was premature. Moreover, he said the view he was now advancing against the creation of "two categories of MPs" was the result of further reflection in the intervening period.
Dr Reid said he did not mean Mr Trimble could not take a different view now, but he had raised the earlier correspondence in response to the implication of British government dishonesty.
During subsequent exchanges, however, Dr Reid was forced to accept that Mr Trimble had not stipulated merely "the first act of decommissioning" but had in fact told Mr Mandelson it was "that action and the continuing process of decommissioning which will demonstrate Sinn FΘin's true commitment to their obligations to peace and democracy contained in the Belfast Agreement".
The Conservative/Unionist assault on the government motion - from which Sinn FΘin's four MPs would gain an allowance package of up to £428,000 sterling - had already suffered an earlier setback as the Conservative shadow Northern Ireland spokesman, Mr Quentin Davies, characterised his opposition to the proposal as signalling the end of the bipartisan policy on Northern Ireland issues. The apparent collapse of bipartisanship in turn dominated much of the early debate on a motion which the government had feared it might lose.
A conservative source said Mr Davies's comments in yesterday's Daily Telegraph reflected "a change of tone but nothing on the substance". Mr Davies had said: "We will do everything for the successful implementation of the Belfast Agreement. For all its imperfections, it is the best way of establishing peace in Northern Ireland."
The motion allowing MPs who have chosen not to take their seats to use Commons facilities was carried by 322 to 189, a 133 majority.