PROBABLY because of the fear that too much press scrutiny could scupper the current review of the Northern peace process, coupled with the belief in some quarters that instant media reaction and over-analysis in the past wasn't helpful, British PM Tony Blair will not be meeting the Irish media travelling to Cambridge on Monday for the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. Normally on these occasions there is a Downing Street briefing, but the feeling now is that there has been too much media briefing and not enough political agreement.
The Body comprises 25 backbenchers from Leinster House and Westminster and, despite the North having always dominated the mutual-interest agenda, not for the first time there may be no Northern politicians present. Unionist MPs have consistently refused to take their seats and the SDLP member, Seamus Mallon, is likely to be too involved in the review to travel. One northerner who may turn up, though, is the Belfast born Tory MP, Sir Brian Mawhinney, who represents the neighbouring Cambridgeshire North West and is on the subs list. He's no lover of the republic or nationalism, and in his autobiography, In the Firing Line, which came out this week, he claims credit for stopping the British siting the Anglo-Irish secretariat inside Stormont Castle in 1985 on the grounds that it would be the ultimate betrayal. Should he come, the Unionists may as well be there themselves. The current chairs of the Body are FF's Michael O'Kennedy and Labour's David Winnick, and the top speakers on Tuesday are Secretary of State Mo Mowlam and General Jean de Chastelain. The Body will gather just as the annual meeting of the British Irish Association, aka Toffs Against Terrorism, ends down the road at Emmanuel College. Leading politicians, civil servants and journalists are discussing the way forward, if indeed they can find one, today and tomorrow.