UUP leaders may seek to amend motion on retaining RUC's name

The Ulster Unionist Party leadership may seek to undermine a motion that would tie the resumption of the executive to the retention of the title of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, according to senior UUP sources.

As pro- and anti-Belfast Agreement wings of the party prepare for Saturday's crucial meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council in Belfast on Saturday, the UUP hierarchy is planning to table an amendment designed to outmanoeuvre the anti-agreement grouping, the sources said.

The motion, from London-based public relations consultant Mr David Burnside, linking the RUC name to the resumption of the executive is almost certain to be discussed by the UUP's ruling Ulster Unionist Council at Saturday's a.g.m. Senior pro-agreement figures in the party are attempting to devise an amendment that would soften Mr Burnside's motion. They will argue that the motion would politicise the policing issue against the wishes of the RUC itself and that it would damage the party's room for manoeuvre in future negotiations.

The East Derry MP, Mr Willie Ross, said he was aware of the planned amendment but warned that it would be poorly received by unionists.

"It would be very wrong to indicate that the party did not totally support the RUC. We should support the motion from David Burnside because the attempt to remove the RUC name strikes at the very Britishness of the force."

Mr Ross repeated his criticism of the UUP leader, Mr Trimble, for his remarks that a new sequencing system might be created that could see Sinn Fein again in government ahead of IRA decommissioning, but based on an assurance that decommissioning would follow.

"It was extremely foolish to say what he did in Washington, especially in front of the world's press, the Irish-American elements, and effectively to Tony Blair and to the Dublin Government that some great change was afoot," said Mr Ross.

The MP, who with other members of the parliamentary party is due to meet Mr Trimble in London today to discuss the current difficulties in the party, made it clear that he was opposed to any weakening of the demand for IRA decommissioning. "We should stand our ground and defend it against all comers," said Mr Ross.

The UUP assembly member, Mr Billy Armstrong, has said the UUP was the only party committed to achieving decommissioning. While perceived as being tentatively on the anti-agreement wing of the party, he indicated that he could wear the resumption of the executive involving Sinn Fein if there was a guarantee on IRA decommissioning.

"To move into the executive again without prior decommissioning would be very risky business indeed. We must have a clear commitment and a real guarantee of actual decommissioning," he said.

Were such a commitment on offer the UUP could enter discussions about joining Sinn Fein in government ahead of actual IRA disarmament, he added.