The Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, has accused the Rev Ian Paisley of "running away again" after he pulled out of a head-to-head television debate. Dr Paisley said he withdrew from tomorrow's BBC Hearts and Minds programme because it wasn't in the interests of the No campaign.
He said the programme would have an input from the Northern Ireland Office and the "spin doctors at Westminster", and he would not be given enough time to answer "scurrilous allegations".
"I wasn't going to give Mr Trimble a platform for his views because the No campaign is doing exceedingly well. I am not running away," he said. He offered to debate the Belfast Agreement with the Ulster Unionist leader in the Ulster Hall instead.
Ulster Television said the DUP had also turned down its offer of a debate between the two leaders, saying the proposal was not logistically possible. The UK Unionist leader, Mr Robert McCartney, said he would debate with Mr Trimble under any conditions he chose. He was speaking at a united unionist campaign press conference which he attended with Dr Paisley in Belfast yesterday.
Mr McCartney said the £315 million package of spending measures and tax relief announced by the British government to bolster the North's economy was a "massive confidence trick". The North would have received the money anyway.