The four anti-agreement unionist parties at Stormont have devised their political strategy in the event of a deal being reached between the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein on the setting-up of an executive.
The parties said the sole aim of the talks in London which ended yesterday was to allow Sinn Fein into government without prior IRA decommissioning.
A dissident Ulster Unionist Assembly member, Mr Peter Weir, attended yesterday's anti-agreement meeting. In a statement issued afterwards, the four parties described the talks, chaired by Senator George Mitchell, as "a great threat to democracy, decency and the Ulster people".
The statement by the DUP, the UK Unionists, the Northern Ireland Unionist Party and the United Unionist Party was supported by several dissident UUP MPs, including Mr Willie Ross. Speaking afterwards, the Rev Ian Paisley said: "The sole purpose of such secret meetings is to foist upon the people of Northern Ireland an executive that includes the representatives of republican terrorism who are unrepentant and still maintain their means to create violence within our community.
"If the UUP policy is `no guns, no government', why the need for such secret discussions? The people of Ulster should brace themselves for further breathtaking concessions from David Trimble, whose track record is failure after failure to secure the union."
Dr Paisley said the parties had agreed tactics to combat any deal which emerged from the Mitchell review but he would not disclose what they were.
He added: "As far as the Ulster people are concerned, and I speak as one who has won more votes from the Ulster people than any other person in Northern Ireland, the Ulster people are not wearing this Agreement whether you like it or not. The British government is slowly and surely coming to know this is a fact of life it has to live with."
The Northern Ireland Unionist Party leader, Mr Cedric Wilson, said: "We intend to stop Mr Trimble from moving to the position of forming an executive. We believe there are those in the UUP who could stop Mr Trimble dead in his tracks. They will have our support and our goodwill and hopefully, they will succeed in preventing the final sell-out of agreeing to Sinn Fein in government."
Meanwhile, speaking at a meeting of Young Unionists in North Belfast last night, Mr Weir said his party must stand firm against any compromise on decommissioning. "Clever formulas will be produced by the wordsmiths of the British and Irish governments.
"Unionists must look beyond the spin and examine the substance of any deal on offer. If unionist negotiators yield to pressure and accept the type of fudge envisaged by the government, then it would surely not only damage democracy in Northern Ireland but also irretrievably split the UUP."