Howard calls for transparency in IRA decommissioning
The leader of Britain's Conservative Party, Michael Howard, has said IRA decommissioning must be more transparent.
Mr Howard is on his first visit to the North, where he has also been speaking out against what he calls any stealth moves towards joint authority with the Republic.
His comments echo the demands of both the Ulster Unionists and Ian Paisley’s DUP, and are being seen as following in the pro-unionist tradition of British Conservative Party leaders.
Yesterday, the DUP leader Peter Robinson insisted on a visual element to IRA decommissioning, but Sinn Féin’s Mitchel McLaughlin said the DUP was “moving the goalposts” and increasing the threshold.
