Was Cameron's NI pact worth it?

By James Landale
Deputy political editor, BBC News

David Cameron says he cannot force the UUP to vote a certain way

It was not supposed to be like this.

David Cameron's alliance with the Ulster Unionist Party was supposed to show the Tories were a truly national party.

It was supposed to be an act of liberating democracy that brought Northern Ireland into the mainstream of British national politics.

It had, Mr Cameron said today, the thoroughly noble aim of helping to end sectarian divides.

But the Conservative leader could be forgiven for wondering if it was all worth it.

He supports the devolution of power to Northern Ireland, but is tied to a party that opposes its completion on current terms.

He appears powerless to change the minds of the Ulster Unionist leadership and is forced to admit his impotence to international players such as George W Bush.

And after a string of negative stories, his party is once again on the defensive, unable to get onto the front foot weeks before a general election.

Privately furious

So it was not surprising that Mr Cameron this morning could not hide his frustration.

He told the BBC that he had done everything he could to persuade the UUP to support the completion of devolution, but in the end could not force them to vote in favour.

He said "regrettably" and "unhappily" the UUP could not be swayed. He insisted he did not regret the alliance - but you could sense the "but" in his tone.

Mr Cameron has formed political ties with UUP leader Reg Empey

In private, the Tories are furious, accusing Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward of playing politics, of seeking to use the issue to create an electoral dividing line, of leaking information to the Guardian newspaper.

They claim Mr Woodward has repeatedly failed to include the UUP in the devolution talks and that he has given nothing to their leader, Reg Empey, as part of the deal.

So, they say, it is no surprise that the UUP is unhappy. And now that it looks as if the DUP are voting for the deal, Mr Woodward can afford to criticise the UUP and Tories in turn.

Ministers deny this. They insist the UUP were kept in the loop and say their concerns about the parades issue were incorporated into the Hillsborough agreement. They also say Mr Cameron has demonstrated his lack of influence and judgement and should no longer support UU candidates who have voted against devolution.

Open to mockery

The electoral pact between the Tories and the UUP in 2008 was the political equivalent of hooking up with an old girlfriend - the Conservative and Unionist Party of the past returning to one of its roots.

The deal was simple. The Tories and the UUP would field joint candidates in Northern Ireland's 18 parliamentary seats. Any MPs elected would take the Tory whip at Westminster and potentially join a Tory government.

Yet the consummation of this marriage has not been easy.

There were early disagreements over what they should call themselves. The resulting compromise - the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists New Force or UCUNF - is as unwieldy as it is open to mockery.

Not surprisingly their election literature now boils it down to Conservatives and Unionists.

They have also had difficulties selecting candidates and still do not have a full slate.

Moreover, the alliance has opened the Tories up to political criticism.

The former Northern Ireland Secretary, Lord Mandelson, has accused them of playing politics, forging an alliance to win extra seats that might be needed in a hung parliament.

Mr Cameron's decision to dip his party's toe into the uncertain waters of Northern Ireland politics has had unintended consequences

This, of course, is based on a rather optimistic assumption of how many seats the Tories/UUP might win at the election.

It also ignores the fact that Labour has its own links with parties in Northern Ireland, namely the SDLP, which takes the Labour whip in the House of Commons.

Fragile balance

Earlier this year shadow Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson was much criticised for hosting secret talks with the Ulster Unionists and Democratic Unionist Party at the home of the arch unionist Tory, the Marquess of Salisbury, better known by his previous title, Lord Cranborne.

Mr Paterson insisted the talks were designed to broker a deal that would allow both parties to support the devolution of policing and justice to Northern Ireland.

Instead, there were discussions about the possibility of a pan-unionist alliance that threatened to upset the fragile balance of power in the Northern Ireland assembly.

For all the disputed accounts of the meeting, the Tories' opponents claimed the party had crossed a line and would not - in government - be able to take on the UK's traditional role of an even-handed broker between the parties.

This morning Mr Cameron rejected this categorically and insisted he had been utterly constructive throughout the process.

He had supported the devolution legislation, he had supported the tax-funded sweeteners designed to encourage the deal, he had done everything he could to get the Ulster Unionists on board.

But there are some Tories who are still wondering if he made the right call.

His decision to dip his party's toe into the uncertain waters of Northern Ireland politics has had unintended consequences.