Unionists blackmailed, Molyneaux insists

The former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Lord Molyneaux, has explained the background to his decision to vote No in Friday…

The former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Lord Molyneaux, has explained the background to his decision to vote No in Friday's referendum.

He told the BBC that political summit meetings like the closing stages of the Stormont talks worked against democratic principles and his view was strengthened by the pressure he believed Unionists came under on Good Friday.

"Changes were made to the document in the final hour. That was followed by what amounted to an ultimatum: decide the future of Ulster within 15 minutes or else. So in my humble opinion that was pressure and blackmail amounting to brutality and in my time as a Justice of the Peace I held to the view that confessions made under duress were inadmissible."

He said his decision was a personal one and had nothing to do with personalities. Responding in a statement, the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, said he had been forced to play the cards left to him when he succeeded Lord Molyneaux in the leadership.

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"I was faced with the Anglo-Irish Agreement, Hume-Adams, the Downing Street Declaration and the Frameworks Document. I would rather not have had to start from that precarious position but I managed to negotiate the best possible deal for our people. Hard negotiation won major advances," Mr Trimble said.

Maol Muire Tynan adds: In an appeal to unionists to accept the Government's good faith on the Belfast Agreement, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, said in Dublin last night that his party had willingly embraced what were for them and for nationalists generally "uncomfortable changes" in the need to reach an accommodation.