THE decision as to whether the Orange Order march in Drumcree is allowed to go ahead should be made by the RUC and not the British government, according to the Conservative Party spokesman on Northern Ireland, Mr Andrew Mackay.
Speaking on Sky TV yesterday Mr Mackay stressed that the Conservative Party would continue to support the bipartisan approach to Northern Ireland but stated that the final decision on the Drumcree march must by made by the RUC Chief Constable Mr Ronnie Flanagan.
"It is not a political decision for the likes of her [the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam] and me, it is a decision of civil order and protecting the rights of people to march on the one hand and on the other hand ensuring that lives are not at risk and that unenviable task is with the new Chief Constable, Ronnie Flanagan, who seems to me to have the confidence of both communities," he said.
Mr Mackay said he did not believe the British government had softened its stance on decommissioning but urged Dr Mowlam to regularly review its progress throughout the talks.
"The important factor here is that the decommissioning goes in parallel with the peace talks and once the peace talks start there must be decommissioning of arms and what would be quite wrong is for the peace talks to develop through the autumn and for us to have a break at a certain point and find there has been no decommissioning," he added.
Although Mr Mackay acknowledged that the possibility of a new IRA ceasefire did not "look great", he said he supported the pledge by the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, that the talks would proceed without Sinn Fein if necessary.
"I hope he means that. You can't say `last chance' and then give people a further chance, so I hope Sinn Fein/IRA know that this is their last opportunity, that the peace talks will proceed without them if there is not a ceasefire quickly," he stated.
Mr Mackay also defended comments by the chairman of the Tory backbench committee on Northern Ireland, Mr Andrew Hunter, who stated he would be a member of the Orange Order if he lived in Northern Ireland.
"You have got to remember that the Orange Order isn't some clandestine quasi terrorist group and, if you go to the average Orange Order hall and see the average march, it is full of respectable, ordinary people just like my own constituents.
"So it is very wrong to confuse the Orange Order with the paramilitaries on both sides of the sectarian divide, who are the men of violence who should rightly be condemned," he said.
Mr Hunter confirmed yesterday that he secretly met leaders of the Orange Order last Monday with the former British cabinet minister, Lord Cranbourne and a former IRA commander, Mr Sean O'Callaghan, in an attempt to prevent any violent confrontations during the Drumcree parade.