Chris Patten describes press leaks as "straightforward fabrications"
Thursday, 2 September 1999 20:00
Chris Patten, whose report into policing in the North is to be published next Thursday, has described press leaks as straightforward fabrications. Mr. Patten said that it was part of an effort to distract from the real content of the report and to "muddy the waters". Mr. Patten, who is in Brussels, said that police reform was an essential part of a new democratic society in Northern Ireland.
He dismissed media reports that his commission intended to "Balkanise" the police force, by dividing it into 26 separate units for the regional council areas. The Patten recommendations are due to be made public next Thursday, and Unionist fears have heightened with reports that this will mean changing the RUC name, cutting officer numbers from 13,000 to 8,000 and disbanding the reserve force.
Mr. Patten said that police reform was an essential part of new democratic society in Northern Ireland and that he hoped his report would be the focus of great interest and rational debate. He added that what Northern Ireland needs is policing which commands the respect of the overwhelming majority of people in Northern Ireland. Mr. Patten also said that Mo Mowlam's remarks, that there would be no role for paramilitaries in the police force, were extremely helpful.
