McCrea disciplined by UUP

Mr Nesbitt claimed Basil McCrea has done “enormous damage” to the party.

The UUP leader said he had “no choice but to remove the party whip” from the MLA.

Mr McCrea had called for all-party talks to resolve the flags issue, following days of loyalist protests, some of which have been violent.

He also criticised the decision by the two main unionist parties to take the flags issue to the Assembly Commission.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Nesbitt said Mr McCrea’s “inability to exercise self-discipline or demonstrate the basic characteristics of teamwork are doing enormous damage to the Ulster Unionist Party”.

“For the reasons of lack of self-discipline and teamwork, and for those reasons only, he has left me no choice but to remove the party whip with immediate effect,” the UUP leader added.

This news comes just after Mr Mcrea said that the flying of the Union Flag targeting specific premises or people should cease immediately.

Talking about the riots Mr McCrea said: “The past two weeks have been a disaster for Northern Ireland, the business community in Belfast and the pro-Union family. The negative images conveyed throughout the world are destroying jobs, businesses and our prospects for peace and prosperity. The concerns of marginalised groups should be addressed, but the rights of the ordinary people of this country to go about their daily business must also be respected. The voice of those who are concerned for their jobs or simply want to go Christmas shopping have been largely ignored.”

Mr McCrea described the riot reaction as predictable but said it could not be condoned. “Those that created this situation by the conduct and timing of the debate in Belfast City Council or by deliberately heightening tensions with the production and distribution of leaflets in Alliance colours should accept responsibility for their actions.

“The reaction was entirely predictable, but cannot be condoned or excused in any way. Any attack on elected representatives and or premises is an attack upon democracy.”

He explained that any decision regarding the flying of the Union flag at Belfast City Hall was bound to raise tensions if not handled with care.

“Political parties in City Hall seem determined to obtain maximum short term political advantage with reckless regard for the future of Northern Ireland. The situation could have been handled in a better way, as in Lisburn City Council in 2006 where a similar decision was taken without large scale civil unrest. In contrast Belfast is gridlocked by those that claim the legitimate right to protest.

“The right to peaceful protests does not extend to targeting specific premises or individuals. That is intimidation.

“The moral authority for such protests has been lost, must cease immediately and should not be supported by elected representatives, particularly those from whom impartiality is expected,”

“Resolution of this issue will not be satisfactorily achieved by a pressured decision from the Assembly Commission or some rushed consultation. There are fundamental political divisions within our society which can only be resolved by all-party talks. The flags issue should be included in the CSI strategy, should cover the entirety of Northern Ireland and should be decided by the Assembly of Northern Ireland in a mature and democratic manner,” concluded Mr McCrea.

Mr McCrea has been at the centre of controversy within the UUP after he sparked an internal row when he said the Union flag should only be flown on official buildings on designated days.

His colleagues in City Hall demanded that Mr McCrea be disciplined for speaking out — although Mr McCrea insisted he was in line with party policy.

he UUP divisions bubbled over at a party executive meeting in Belfast last Saturday. At the meeting, Mr McCrea produced a document which suggests that he was within established policy.

A plan by opponents of Mr McCrea within his own constituency association to table a vote of no confidence in their MLA failed to get off the ground.

The plan was to table a motion of no confidence in the UUP’s sole Lagan Valley MLA at a scheduled meeting of the constituency association’s Lisburn branch on Monday night but this did not happen.