THE in-fighting between unionism's two main camps continued yesterday, with the DUP's Gregory Campbell accused of opportunism for standing against the UUP's William Ross in East Derry.
The leader of the Ulster Unionist councillors group in Derry, Mr John Adams, said Mr Campbell was a "political carpetbagger" who had no connections with his new constituency but was willing to "tap into the fears, suspicions and insecurity of unionists" there.
Calling the DUP man's stance "hypocritical", he said Mr Campbell had consistently argued for unionists to unite when he stood in Foyle, but was now attempting to split the vote on the sitting unionist MP. He urged the electorate to support Mr Ross, who had been "a good servant to the unionists in East Londonderry as well as Foyle, where we suffer a regime dominated by nationalists and republicans".
Mr Ross meanwhile targeted small businesses with an announcement that the Ulster Unionists had secured a commitment "to extend rate relief for shops and premises for community use in small villages".
The small businessman was "the backbone of the Ulster town", Mr Ross said.
The "shameful" and "uncaring" attitude of the Conservative government towards the elderly was attacked in separate statements by UUP candidates Mr Danny Kennedy and the Rev Martin Smyth. Mr Kennedy (Newry-Armagh) called on the incoming government to increase pensions as a priority, while Mr Smyth (South Belfast) claimed a Labour government would be no better than the Tories
In a joint statement with his Belfast party colleague, Mr Cecil Walker, Mr Smyth also criticised what he said was the lack of government spending in Protestant areas of Belfast. Most development money had gone into nationalist areas, they claimed, "while unionist ones like Crumlin/York Road, Sandy Row, Lower Ravenhill and Taughmonagh have been largely neglected.
"For example, less than 10 per cent of the city's new housing has been situated in unionist east Belfast. Where rehousing has taken place it has been slower and less dense in these areas."
The Ulster Unionist candidate for East Belfast, Mr Reg Empey, criticised the stance of all three main British parties on Europe. He said everyone wanted "a Europe of trading partners, not a European superstate".
