Mr David Trimble will today increase the pressure on the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, by urging him to postpone the review of the Belfast Agreement. At the same time the Ulster Unionists are set to proceed with a court action challenging Dr Mo Mowlam's ruling on the IRA ceasefire.
The review of the implementation of the agreement is due to begin next Monday under the chairmanship of the former US senator, Mr George Mitchell. But Mr Trimble told The Irish Times last night it had little prospect of succeeding in present circumstances. He will tell Mr Blair that recent events have contributed to "a very real and deep loss of credibility" for Dr Mowlam personally, "and for the present direction of government policy" in Northern Ireland.
The hardening of Mr Trimble's position is believed to be in direct response to mounting pressure from senior colleagues, led by his deputy, Mr John Taylor. With Mr Blair returning to his desk today after his summer holiday, Mr Trimble is expected to convey his views by telephone ahead of a face-to-face meeting at 10 Downing Street.
Mr Trimble said if the review was to proceed the UUP "would not be able to interact with Sinn Fein in the way that we have in the past." He continued: "We would have to insist on Sinn Fein acting to demonstrate that it is committed to peaceful means. In view of their behaviour and statements there is no sign of them doing that, and so a very serious question mark must now be put against the review. "It doesn't hold . . . there doesn't seem to be any prospect of it being successful. In that case, is it wise to have the review now?"
Until the summer, Mr Trimble said, "there might have been some reason for hoping there would be a positive evolution in the attitude of the republican movement. But looking at recent events it's hard to sustain that view."
Asserting that he was acting in accord with "the wide view which the First Minister should take in terms of the health of society as a whole" in Northern Ireland, Mr Trimble said he would tell Mr Blair of his "very, very grave concern at the way in which the Secretary of State has handled matters over the last few weeks".
Stopping short of a repeat call for Dr Mowlam's resignation, he said: "My concern. . .is that there is now a very real and deep loss of credibility for her personally and for the present direction of government policy.
"It's not just the misjudgment over the quality of the IRA's ceasefire. It's also that loss of confidence that the Patten rumours are creating, reinforced by rumours that the Northern Ireland Office internal review of criminal justice is going to recommend some sort of `restorative justice', which would mean handing another slice of law and order over to paramilitaries."
Asked what more Sinn Fein could do to satisfy him, given the party's commitment to the Mitchell Principles and the agreement, Mr Trimble replied: "How can we regard that commitment as genuine against the light of the killings, the beatings, the exiling and the rearming? We mustn't forget that - this very deliberate decision taken at the highest level to import up to 70 high-velocity weapons because the Belfast brigade [of the IRA] is short of close-quarter killing weapons. They evidently considered they needed them. That is in many respects the most disturbing aspect of all this."
Mr Trimble and close colleagues yesterday decided to go ahead with an action seeking a judicial review of last Thursday's ruling on the IRA ceasefire by Dr Mowlam. Some former British ministers believe it could succeed in establishing that Dr Mowlam failed to discharge her statutory obligations under the Northern Ireland Sentences Act governing the release of paramilitary prisoners.