UK:A MAJOR row is brewing between Gordon Brown and senior unionists who suspect British government attempts to exclude Northern Ireland from the gathering debate about the union and policies designed to promote Britishness writes Frank Millar, London Editor.
No 10 Downing Street moved to challenge that perception last night after the appearance of a newspaper article in which the prime minister urged supporters of the British union to be "resolute" in resisting the forces of nationalism, while apparently omitting any reference to Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom.
The apparent omission prompted Lord Trimble, the former Ulster Unionist leader and now a Conservative peer, to suggest: "It would appear Gordon's geographic compass is no better than his moral one."
A spokesman for the prime minister later explained that references to Northern Ireland had been lost during the editorial process, and that the fuller article submitted by Mr Brown had appeared in the Daily Telegraph's online edition.
The missing six words, however - explaining "why reform continues in Northern Ireland" - seemed unlikely to reassure unionists, especially after yesterday's sharp exchange in the Commons between justice secretary Jack Straw and Peter Robinson, tipped to succeed the Rev Ian Paisley as DUP leader and Northern Ireland First Minister in May.
In a statement on constitutional reforms, Mr Straw confirmed his intention to allow government buildings to fly the union flag at any time, while adding that he had no plans to change the rules applying in Northern Ireland.
In a sharp intervention, Mr Robinson said the house had heard the justice secretary announce that the people of Northern Ireland "should be treated as the children of a lesser God" and demanded to know "the rationale" behind this decision. Mr Robinson suggested that if it was because the flag might not be "universally cherished" on all sides in Northern Ireland, then this might "have implications elsewhere" in the UK.
Mr Straw rejected Mr Robinson's interpretations, explaining that the two communities in the North had been "seriously divided" and that "the best evidence" given to him was to leave the existing arrangements for flag-flying as they stood.
Mr Robinson and his party colleague Ian Paisley jnr had also reacted sharply to the Daily Telegraph article in which Mr Brown argued there was "no Scotland-only, Wales-only, England-only solution to transnational challenges that range from terrorism to foot-and-mouth disease and from avian flu to security and climate change."
The published newspaper version did make reference to "these islands" and to Labour's devolution settlement "ensuring that the smaller nations that are part of the UK have more control over their own affairs".
However, Mr Brown's reference to the 1998 settlement was consistent with the overall impression given by the article that his concern was with the union of England, Scotland and Wales. "Devolution simply acknowledges the dual identities: Welsh and British, Scottish and British too," he wrote.
The online version of Mr Brown's article contained one explicit reference to Northern Ireland, when he said it was right to look again "at the relationship between the nations and regions" and see "whether it strikes the right balance as we strive to meet and master new global challenges."
Mr Brown wrote: "That's why, against the background of big changes at the UK level, a review of Welsh assembly powers has taken place, why reform continues in Northern Ireland, why, as we have previously said, we support a review of devolution as proposed by the Scottish parliament, and why England's needs must be fully recognised, not least with more powers and freedoms for local people over the issues that affect them in their communities."
With most of yesterday's announcements already heavily trailed, Liberal Democrat spokesman David Howarth accused the government of "nibbling at the edges of constitutional reform".
However, Mr Straw did appear to open some new ground when he said the government would be prepared to consider what Labour MP Jim Devine described as the "legalised sectarianism" of the Act of Settlement which bars a Catholic from sitting on the throne.