The policing changes proposed in the Patten report will affect Northern Ireland profoundly regardless of the outcome of the Mitchell review, according to the Ulster Unionist Party.
A UUP working group, which is preparing the party's official response to the report, met the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, for almost two hours yesterday. Afterwards, the party's security spokesman, Mr Ken Maginnis, described the meeting as "very long and detailed". Given the significance of the Patten report, he said, it was "absolutely necessary" to familiarise Mr Mandelson with the UUP's views.
"The reality is that Patten has not been part of the day-to-day discussions in terms of the Mitchell review or in terms of the Belfast Agreement. But Patten is an issue which could have profound effects on policing in Northern Ireland irrespective of what happens in the Mitchell review," Mr Maginnis added.
There was "considerable sympathy" for the RUC in his party and disappointment that the report had "neglected to give proper recognition" to the sacrifices made by many officers and their families, the UUP security spokesman said.
"Sadly, Patten's default in that area is something that cannot be put right. The insult to those who have suffered and who have lost loved ones in the RUC cannot be changed. It would have been so much better if Patten and his commission had recognised the full extent to which the police have served this community," Mr Maginnis added.
Militant elements within both loyalism and republicanism would continue their attempts to undermine the police, something that only a normalisation of society would eventually halt, he said.
Commenting on reports that the IRA might be prepared to make a gesture on decommissioning, Mr Maginnis said while the story seemed "logical" he had seen no evidence to substantiate it.
"I see a great deal of logic in the story if it is correct, but my knowledge contradicts it. I don't find any evidence at grassroots level that the leadership of the IRA has been conditioning people to move into the real world of politics. That Rubicon has yet to be crossed," he concluded.