'SDLP operating double standards'

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 19th Aug 2003

Alliance Party South Belfast Councillor Tom Ekin has accused the SDLP Lord Mayor of Belfast of operating double standards. Councillor Martin Morgan said he would not invite Minister John Spellar to events organised by himself, and would leave any Council event at which he was present.

Cllr Ekin said: "The decision by the Army to retain Scots Guards Fisher and Wright and not to review their case as requested by the Court of Appeal is an absolute disgrace and demonstrates a breathtaking arrogance.

"But the decision of the Lord Mayor to snub the Minister clearly runs against his pledge to be inclusive and progressive. For the sake of consistency will he now be breaking off all contact with the US Consulate in protest at the war in Iraq? I doubt it. Will he be shunning all those representatives of loyalism and republicanism who have refused to show remorse for their actions and those of their colleagues?

"The SDLP is taking a step backwards from when it used to encourage dialogue and inclusivity. Nowadays, it is about petty political point-scoring and trying to out-green Sinn Fein in dealings with the British. It is time that the Lord Mayor stopped playing gesture politics, and started representing the city."