Rebel MPs discipline call

Dermot Nesbitt: MPs should be disciplined

Ulster Unionist MPs who resigned the party whip at Westminster should be disciplined if they cannot abide by party rules, a senior member has said.

Party president the Reverend Martin Smyth, Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson and South Antrim MP David Burnside have quit the whip, saying the leadership had failed to address party concerns.

The move was designed to increase pressure on Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble by refusing to endorse his policy on the recent British-Irish joint declaration.

Mr Trimble has said three rebel MPs who are defying his authority should leave the party.

Party officers, which include Mr Smyth and Mr Donaldson - one of the party's vice presidents - are due to meet on Thursday to discuss the matter.

Former Stormont Executive minister Dermot Nesbitt, who is also a party officer, has called for the MPs to be disciplined, unless they abide by party policy.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster on Tuesday, he said expulsion was the "ultimate sanction."

David Burnside: Resigned party whip

"They certainly should not be holding a position of president of the Ulster unionist council - Martin Smyth - when at the same time he cannot abide by the decisions," he said.

"You cannot have people within a party not abiding by the rules of the party. They are misleading the electorate to somehow think that they are going to get something different."

However, David Burnside, who has challenged Mr Trimble to change his policy or resign, said the three had taken a "difficult decision in conscience".

"If the party leadership gets back on line and opposes the joint declaration, we can retake the whip and that is my wish," he said.

The South Antrim MP said the party leadership had to find "an accommodation" over their concerns over the two government's proposals.

He said he could work with the DUP but would not feel "at ease" in that party.

"I think that I represent mainstream unionist opinion concerned about the agreement," he added.

'Slap in face'

Last Monday, Mr Trimble narrowly fended off a challenge from party rebels, led by Mr Donaldson, who wanted the party to reject the recent British and Irish joint declaration.

Mr Trimble, who criticised some elements of the declaration, whilst noting that the party had not accepted the document as a whole, secured 54% of the vote at a meeting of the party's ruling council. Mr Donaldson received 46%.

The party leader said the subsequent move by the three MPs was a "slap in the face for every delegate to the Ulster Unionist Council".

He said the positions of Mr Smyth as party president and Mr Donaldson as one of its vice presidents were "wholly untenable".

The three MPs are to begin talks with the DUP and UK Unionist Party to adopt a united front against the joint declaration and press for fresh negotiations on the way forward.

Mr Donaldson said he had considered leaving the party but believed taking action at Westminster was in the wider interests of unionism.

Last month's joint declaration outlined plans to reduce troop numbers to 5,000 as part of an attempt to move the Northern Ireland political process forward.

The joint declaration included five annexes dealing with security normalisation, policing and justice, human rights and equality, on-the-run paramilitaries and mechanisms to verify and monitor any deal.

Northern Ireland's devolved administration was suspended last October amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering in the Stormont government.

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The joint declaration between British and Irish Governments
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