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UUP, Tories consider closer links UUP, Tories consider closer links
(about 10 hours later)
The Conservatives and Ulster Unionists have agreed to set up a working group to examine the possibility of greater co-operation between their parties. Conservative leader David Cameron has said "politics in Northern Ireland needs to become more like politics in the rest of the United Kingdom".
Private talks between the Conservatives and the UUP have been going on since last October. The Conservatives and Ulster Unionists have agreed to set up a working group to examine the possibility of greater co-operation between the parties.
In a joint article in Thursday's Daily Telegraph, party leaders David Cameron and Sir Reg Empey said the group will report to them in the autumn. Private talks between the two parties have been going on since last October.
They say it could lead to "a new political and electoral force" in NI. Speaking to the BBC Mr Cameron said he hoped to create a political force that was both Conservative and Unionist.
"There would be no clearer signal that Northern Ireland was moving on and becoming a 'normal' part of the UK than Northern Ireland MPs supporting and serving in a Conservative government," the article adds. "Let's get beyond the old politics of constitution, and orange or green, let's have a national political party that can stand up for people on all of the issues they care about," he said.
For the Conservatives, the move could be seen as a way to broaden the party's appeal outside England, whilst the Ulster Unionists would hope it might help them recover some of the ground they have lost to the DUP. "People in Northern Ireland that maybe haven't gotten involved in politics in the past, can think 'Yes, I could join in.' It's a nation-wide party, it's part of the Conservative movement, I can get involved in that.
Historically, the two parties were formally linked. "It is a political party which is going to stand up for me, is going to get things done for me, is going to stand up for the issues I care about - whether it is fighting crime, giving me more opportunity or strengthening families.
However, that association was broken in the mid-1980s after unionists objected to Margaret Thatcher signing the Anglo-Irish Agreement. "All of the things we campaign for in politics in other parts of the country."
Mr Cameron and Sir Reg Empey said the group will report to them in the autumn.
Shadow secretary of state Owen Patterson is visiting Northern Ireland on Thursday.Shadow secretary of state Owen Patterson is visiting Northern Ireland on Thursday.