Sir, - By retaining Dr Mo Mowlam as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tony Blair has missed a golden opportunity to move the deadlocked peace process forward. Dr Mowlam has lost the confidence of the unionist majority in the Six Counties and is now viewed as a well-meaning failure by many people of good will in Britain and Ireland.
The Ulster Unionist demand that decommissioning of illegally held arms should begin prior to Sinn Fein's entry into the Executive is seen to be eminently reasonable by a clear majority of public opinion in Britain and Northern Ireland. Unless the Labour Government brings this about, there is a danger that the Conservative Party will once again successfully play the Orange Card in the same way it successfully played the Pound Card during the recent European elections.
Without the support of the Ulster Unionists, Mo Mowlam is a lame duck Secretary of State. She needs to be replaced by a tougher, more impartial figure, such as the retiring Liberal Democrat leader, Paddy Ashdown. Mr Ashdown's military and diplomatic experience and his Irish Catholic and Protestant family background makes him uniquely suited for this most important task. - Yours, etc.,
David M. Giles, Wolseley Gardens, London W4.