Patten leaks outrage unionists
``One of the most contentious issues which could wreck the Assembly in Northern Ireland concerned the future of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and in particular its Special Branch''.
One could be forgiven for thinking that the above quote was made in the past week by any unionist politician reacting to reports in the Belfast Telegraph on Wednesday 25 August outlining the possible changes to the RUC that the Patten Commission on RUC reform might propose.
You would, though, be wrong. The quote, in fact, comes from a New Statesman article written in July 1973, when the RUC was under scrutiny by human rights activists and the 26-County government over, in particular, its role in the torture of detainees during the initial arrests when internment was introduced in 1971.
The treatment of the so-called hooded men or guinea pigs, used to develop torture techniques, resulted in the British government facing charges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Now history is repeating itself.
Last Wednesday, when the Belfast Telegraph revealed that the Patten Commission's report was set to recommend a ``dramatic overhaul of the RUC'', unionism reacted as one.
John Taylor, deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, warned: ``The plans are dynamite and could be the final blow for the Belfast Agreement.'' He was making the political point that the RUC is a unionist police force for a unionist people in a unionist state.
Under threat of political chaos, which is the alternative to making the Agreement work, Taylor is saying to the British government ``don't mess with the RUC''.
The unionist spin on the Patten report is also about hyping up opposition to change. By declaring that the reported changes amount to the disbandment of the RUC, it is telling Patten to back off.
According to the leaks, Patten's main proposals for reform of the RUC are that:
The force be renamed and called the Police Service for Northern Ireland
Its oath, uniform, and badge be changed.
The full-time RUC reserve be disbanded.
Politicians sit on any new police board, including Sinn Fein representatives.
The Union flag and portraits of the British Queen be removed from police stations.
These are cosmetic changes, but what they amount to in the unionist psyche is the threat of change and the unionist reacrtion exposes their inability to deal with nationalists or move towards any understanding.
At core, that is the reason why the unionists will not implement the Agreement at all, they cannot stomach change.
In some respects, that is the tragedy of the past 30 years. Had unionism the confidence or the courage to change, to accept nationalists as equals, we could have had a 30-year political process with the potential to bring meaningful change instead of conflict.
It is a pity that John Taylor is only offering us more of the same now.
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