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 | | Saturday, 18 August, 2001, 17:25 GMT 18:25 UK 'Upbeat assessment' of policing plan  The parties have been asked to respond by Tuesday The nationalist SDLP has said the government has acknowledged many of the party's concerns in the new policing implementation plan. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics programme, the party's policing spokesperson, Alex Attwood, refused to say whether his party would sign up to the new policing board. However, he gave an upbeat assessment of some of the changes contained in the plan. Secretary of State Dr John Reid published the 75-page plan on Friday, which outlines in detail changes to be made to the Royal Ulster Constabulary as it is transformed into the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Its aim is to redress the gap between the current policing proposals and the 175 recommendations made by the Patten Commission on the future of policing nearly two years ago.
Dr Reid has asked the parties to let him know by midday on Tuesday whether or not they are prepared to sign up to the new policing board. "Many of the SDLP concerns that led to us putting down amendments on the floor of the House of Commons 12 and 13 months ago have now been acknowledged by the British Government," said Mr Attwood. "The British Government is indicating that following a review they will amend legislation to releglislate consistent with what the SDLP originally set. "In relation to implementation matters, the British Government has acknowledged all of the concerns. "In some of those issues they have moved some of the way, on other issues they have moved more of the way and we have to make a judgement in the round." However, Sinn Fein's Mitchel McLaughlin repeated his party's opposition to the new arrangements. "We are not refusing to take up our responsibilities," he said.
"What we are refusing to take part in is a sham that pretends that something like the spirit or the essence of Patten is good enough. "We want the reality, we want the substance of Patten." The Ulster Unionist Party criticised the SDLP for "cherry-picking" over the revised plan. Ulster Unionist MP Lady Sylvia Hermon said the party remained concerned about a number of issues. What new plan proposes 'Detailed response' William McCrea of the Democratic Unionist Party said his party would consider the document and give a detailed response. The RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, said he hoped the document would be well received. Policing is one of the issues currently causing the impasse in the Northern Ireland political process, which is threatening the future of the institutions. None of the main pro-Agreement parties have fully accepted the package and Dr Reid suspended the assembly briefly at the weekend, to trigger a second six-week talks period. Since the publication of the Patten report, the SDLP and Sinn Fein have refused to sign up to the new police service. | |
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