Economic disaster if union ends - Taylor

BREAKING the union between Northern Ireland and Britain would result in massive emigration from the North, with the poorer sections of society the first to leave, according to the deputy leader of the UUP, Mr John Taylor.

Detailing the party's economic policies in the run up to tomorrow's election, Mr Taylor said nationalists had "no answer" to the £4 billion annual subvention the province received from the UK exchequer. This was half of all public expenditure in Northern Ireland each year, he added.

He urged voters, "especially those who, for sentimental reasons, have voted for a united Ireland in the past, to think rationally in this election and vote Ulster Unionist to retain this massive subvention."

Mr Taylor also called for greater promotion of exports to Scotland, England and Wales, but he did not mention the Republic as a destination for Northern goods.

Pressed on this, he said the Republic was a small market, accounting for only 5 per cent of exports. This was welcome hut not particularly significant, and with the devaluation of the pound against sterling, the Republic was becoming ever more difficult for Northern exporters.

However, he welcomed co-operation between the tourist boards, North and South, so long as "executive control" was not shared.

The Ulster Unionists are opposed to the single European currency, Mr Taylor added, claiming that low interest rates, low inflation and falling unemployment in the North resulted from the UK leaving the ERM.