The Ulster Unionist Party yesterday attacked the unionist No campaigners for making "misleading and inaccurate claims about the union". The UUP's campaign director, Mr Reg Empey, said that contrary to what the "negative No men are saying, this agreement places the union securely in our hands for the first time".
He said the Act of Union, the bedrock of unionism, had not and would not be altered. "To suggest otherwise is a nonsense. That the No campaign has decided to deliberately play on people's fears underlines the weakness of their argument.
"What unionist in his/her sense would throw away the opportunity to get rid of Maryfield and have the consent principle universally accepted? It is clear that the No campaign, even at its launch when it had promised us fresh ideas, has nothing to offer the people of Northern Ireland," he added.