Republican News · Thursday 20 February 2003

The many faces of the SDLP

The SDLP's chameleon-like changes on the policing issue have now reached farcical levels, as party representatives attempt to ignore the obvious problem - that they settled for too little too early.

This week Michelle Gildernew challenged the SDLP to explain the different public positions being adopted by Mark Durkan, Alex Attwood and Seamus Mallon regarding the transfer of powers on policing and justice.

Mallon had paid tribute to the members of the Policing Board for their work and appeared to play down concerns about the Policing Bill.

This stands in contrast to SDLP leader Mark Durkan's less impressed contributions of late. He has said that the time is not yet right to transfer powers.

Michelle Gildernew challenged the SDLP to clarify its situation and explain exactly which senior party member is articulating SDLP policy.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin policing spokesperson Gerry Kelly told Alex Attwood he was living in a political fantasy world. He told the Policing Board member that negotiations with the British government on securing a police force in line with the Patten Report had been made all the more difficult because of the SDLP's willingness to accept a second-class deal.

Attwood, who has, for example, presided as a member of the Policing Board over the distribution of plastic bullets to the PSNI, had claimed that securing legislation combined with the 'far-reaching' decisions of the Policing Board would do the business.

Gerry Kelly pointed out that despite Attwood's confidence, the majority of the nationalist community, represented by Sinn Féin, does not have confidence in the present policing arrangements.

Republicans believe that Patten, implemented in full, could provide a minimum threshold from which to achieve acceptable policing.

The current draft legislation is an improvement on the Police Act 2000, these changes were hard won. Sinn Féin argued for new legislation while the SDLP at the time said that this was unachievable.

It is bizarre that the SDLP are now claiming the very legislation that they said at the time could not be achieved.

Having said that, the draft legislation still falls short of Patten in key areas.

The British government can and will be moved further.

The SDLP will go on attempting the hard sell of attempting to justify its many changes of direction on this most crucial issue, but they will get their answer at the polls in May.