A future Conservative government will refuse to fund costly inquiries into the Northern Ireland Troubles, shadow foreign secretary William Hague said today.
He told the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) annual conference in Belfast that it was time for Northern Ireland to move forward.
And he joined UUP leader Sir Reg Empey in claiming their parties’ plan to fight the General Election under a joint banner allowed Northern Ireland voters a chance to play a real part in UK politics.
Mr Hague again pledged that any MPs elected on the joint Conservative/UUP ticket would sit in a future Tory government, but the Ulster Unionist Party’s sole MP Lady Sylvia Hermon has failed to back the pact and did not attend today's conference.
A government-sponsored report on dealing with legacy issues after the decades of violence has, meanwhile, proposed a special commission to deal with the needs of victims and examine unsolved murders.
One of the authors of the document, former deputy chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board Denis Bradley, has warned the Conservatives against binning the plan.
He called on Conservatives to support efforts to resolve ancient hatreds at the heart of the violence in Northern Ireland for the sake of future generations.
Mr Hague said he had accepted the need for the Saville Inquiry into the deaths of Bloody Sunday, when British troops killed 14 civilians, but he expressed concerns that the investigation cost taxpayers £200 million.
And while he did not specifically mention the report compiled by Mr Bradley and former Church of Ireland Primate Lord Robin Eames, Mr Hague pointed to his party’s concerns over the cost of further inquiries.
“Under a Conservative government there will be no more costly and open-ended inquiries into the past,” Mr Hague said.
“It’s time for Northern Ireland to move forward.”
But with the Ulster Unionists and the Conservatives currently selecting joint candidates ahead of the next election, Mr Hague’s speech focused on their new political future.
“Our aim is clear. We want to end the semi-detached political status of Northern Ireland and bring you back into the mainstream of United Kingdom politics,” he said.
“It’s time to put Northern Ireland at the heart of the union.”
He added: “Any Conservative and Unionist MP elected here will take the Conservative whip and have the same rights and responsibilities as every other Conservative MP from England, Scotland and Wales.
“And that means being eligible to serve as ministers in a Conservative and Unionist government for the whole of the United Kingdom.”
Critics inside the UUP have claimed the Tory pact risked isolating traditional supporters with left-wing views, but Mr Hague said the promise of a role in a future Cabinet was something no other Northern Ireland party could offer.
Mr Hague declared that his party would ban double-jobbing among politicians in Northern Ireland, forcing Ulster Unionist politicians make a choice between sitting in the Stormont Assembly or in Westminster.
The senior Conservative party spokesman condemned dissident republican violence and branded loyalist paramilitaries as thugs. He called on the security forces to deal strongly with groups who fail to embrace peace.
PA