Rebels warn Trimble of 'irreversible split'

Three rebel Ulster Unionist MPs today warned their leader David Trimble that he is risking a “disastrous and irreversible split” in the party by backing disciplinary action against them.

In a letter to 900 members of the Ulster Unionist Council, David Burnside, Jeffrey Donaldson and the Reverend Martin Smyth warned that there could be a confrontation between their three constituency associations and the party if the leadership continued to try to punish them for resigning the whip.