The Rev Ian Paisley has said the new police force in the North proposed by the Patten commission would not be a hindrance to paramilitaries but would help them. The DUP leader was addressing a "Defend the RUC" rally in Newtownards, Co Down, last night attended by 500 people.
"The Union is in greater danger than it has ever been. The RUC are about to be eclipsed by a new police service that will no longer be a scourge to criminals but will succour the terrorists. Democracy itself is in mortal danger."
He said the Patten report stemmed directly from the Belfast Agreement and the blame lay with the Ulster Unionists. "It was David Trimble who boasted that the Belfast Agreement saved the Union. It was David Trimble who boasted that by voting `yes' the RUC would be protected. It is Ken Maginnis and David Trimble and John Taylor who are responsible for this mess."
The UK Unionist leader, Mr Bob McCartney, addressed a separate meeting on the Patten report in Banbridge, Co Down, last night. He said that only unionist unity would save the RUC. "It is the first and most important duty of all the democratic pro-Union parties to bury their differences and provide a totally united unionist opposition to the destruction of the RUC."