Unionist politicians were united yesterday in saying that Sinn Fein would have to be expelled from the talks process in order to "save its integrity" after the RUC Chief Constable linked the IRA to two killings in Belfast this week.
The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, endorsed a statement by the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, yesterday morning when she said the integrity of the talks and a commitment to exclusively peaceful means was paramount, and that all parties had to be treated fairly and equally.
Mr Trimble said he interpreted that as meaning there would be proceedings in the talks on Monday equivalent to those in London at the end of last month when the UDP was expelled after the UFF carried out a number of killings.
He said he expected Dr Mowlam to put the issue on the agenda for the parties to consider. "As things stand, it seems to me there is only one outcome that can result," he added.
The Ulster Unionist leader said Sinn Fein had been given every opportunity to remain in the political process. He described it as an organisation which preferred instead to engage in "sectarian tit-for-tat killing and a squalid gangland turf war over drugs".
Mr Trimble added: "One has to conclude that they are not going to change their spots". He suggested that if Sinn Fein were expelled from the talks it should not be allowed to return, saying that any future profession of a commitment to peaceful means would be worthless.
"If they now, for a third time, say `This time we are really going to be good' it does stretch credibility," he said. The Alliance Party's deputy leader, Mr Seamus Close, said parties should not be allowed repeatedly to breach the Mitchell Principles and stay within the process. If that happened, it would reduce the process to "a revolving-door farce".
"If one breach by any party means a yellow card, then a second breach must mean that party is no longer allowed to participate," Mr Close said.
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, also called for Sinn Fein to be expelled from the talks. He said the party was not in negotiations because of its electoral mandate, but because "they are the spokesmen for a terrorist group".
Mr Gary McMichael of the Ulster Democratic Party said the same rules had to be applied to Sinn Fein as had been applied to his party.
"There should be no effort on the part of the government to try to provide political cover for Sinn Fein," he said. If Sinn Fein were allowed to remain in the talks, the government would be guilty of applying double standards.
The Progressive Unionist Party, which is linked to the UVF, said it believed Sinn Fein would have to be put out of the talks. Mr David Ervine said he believed Sinn Fein would be asked to leave because a marker had been set down in the case of the UDP.
"We will listen to what evidence comes along and will try to deal with the reality of the possibility of collapse," he said, adding that the collapse of the process "might be as well as creating a sham".