The Ulster Unionist candidate in the South Antrim Westminster by-election has said he will be fighting his campaign on a ticket uniting factions within the party.
Launching his campaign in Templepatrick, Co Antrim, yesterday, Mr David Burnside was flanked by his party leader, Mr David Trimble, and the former leader, Lord Molyneaux.
Mr Burnside said unionist voters were "fed up" with the divisions in unionism. "I am fed up and the unionist people are fed up with bickering and division and insults. Every time we have divided in the last 30 years, we have diluted the unionist position. Unionist disunity and in-fighting weakens the unionist position strategically and tactically and I will have nothing to do with it," he said.
The UUP candidate, who lodged his nomination papers for the September 21st by-election yesterday, said he offered voters a wealth of experience as a lobbyist for his party in London.
"My experience in London, which I am proud of, will be an advantage above and beyond the other candidates. I know Westminster, I know parliament, I know the media in Fleet Street and I know Whitehall."
Describing himself as an "old-fashioned Tory", he said his contacts in London spread across all the political parties. "I have access at the highest level." Mr Burnside voted for the Belfast Agreement but has since voiced concerns about the peace process. He rejected what he termed the "simplistic" labels of Yes or No unionism. "I have a lot of scepticism about the implementation of the agreement and a lot of concerns which I think represent the mainstream of unionist opinion," he said.
He described the British Prime Minister as "flakey" in his handling of the North. "Tony Blair did not deliver his promises of the referendum; on decommissioning he did not use the leverage of the release of prisoners," he said.
Because of the lack of decommissioning, "I do not believe the terrorist-linked parties have met the criteria of democracy."
Asked how this could be reconciled with the UUP's participation in government with Sinn Fein, Mr Trimble said Mr Burnside's position was not different from his. "I have never said they have [met the criteria]. I am giving them an opportunity, a test which they might yet fail." Mr Burnside claimed that the IRA still retained its capability to run a violent campaign but was withholding it to enable Sinn Fein to gain the balance of power at the next general election in the Republic and enter power with Fianna Fail.
He pledged his opposition to the Government's reform of policing in the North which he said "continues to be a disgrace".
Mr Burnside is expected to face Mr William McCrea (DUP), Mr Norman Boyd (NI Unionist Par ty), Mr David Ford (Alliance), Mr Donovan McClelland (SDLP) and Mr Martin Meehan (Sinn Fein). At the last election, the UUP majority was 16,611 in a field of six candidates.