'South Antrim voters regret support for Burnside': Ford

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 23rd Jun 2003

Alliance Leader David Ford has said South Antrim MP David Burnside's inability to stand by the manifesto he was elected on has led to many voters regretting they supported him.

Speaking after Mr Burnside resigned the UUP whip on Monday, Mr Ford stated: "The people who voted for David Burnside to defeat Willie McCrea did so on the basis that every vote for an Ulster Unionist candidate was a vote for David Trimble's politics. It is now clear that many people were misled by Mr Trimble's statement.

"If David Burnside was content to stand on that basis and has now resigned the party whip and is seeking to do deals with the DUP and UKUP, it appears to me that he has deceived the people of South Antrim.

"I have already had apologies from many people who voted for Mr Burnside and subsequently regretted it. I have no doubt that, following his decision to resign the UU whip, many more people will feel the same.

"Alliance is committed to working for everyone, but the UUP leader in South Antrim seems only to be concerned about narrow internal party politics."