Sir, - The British government has traditionally argued that it is an honest broker, holding the ring between the squabbling factions in Northern Ireland. Understandably, the Security Minister, Adam Ingram, repeats this position (Opinion, August 5th). Mr Ingram argues that his government's position on the policing bill is squarely between the demands of nationalists, as represented by the SDLP's Alex Attwood, and unionists. This attempt at impartiality is threadbare. Mr Attwood is merely calling for the British government to implement the report of the Independent Commission on Policing established by the Good Friday Agreement, a report that is itself a compromise between unionism and nationalism. Unionists insist that much of the Patten Report be ignored. The government's position should not be to split the difference between these two, but to side with Patten.
It is interesting that the British government appears to be admitting for the first time that the Police Bill does not implement Patten, and it is strange that no one has pointed this out. Mr Ingram claims in his article that the Oversight Commissioner should concentrate on implementing the government's Police Bill rather than Patten's recommendations. Perhaps Mr Ingram would like to clarify this? - Yours, etc.,
Prof John McGarry, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.