Trimble fends off Donaldson challenge

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble tonight succeeded in watering down his main rival Jeffrey Donaldson’s attempts to tie his hands over the British and Irish Governments’ plans for the peace process.

In a tense vote at a south Belfast hotel, members of the Ulster Unionist council supported Mr Trimble as hard-liners tried to force him into an outright rejection of the London and Dublin peace process plan.