Extract from a speech by TUV Party President William Ross at a public meeting in Moygashel, Co Tyrone:

“A few weeks ago Republican terrorists murdered their way back to the front pages of the newspapers. The message was simple – they have not gone away, their objectives haven’t changed, and their brutality remains undiminished.

“We all know of the ongoing row over the income of MPs and MLAs especially over those holding two or three political posts. The Government is now looking for a way of defusing the fury of the taxpayers, especially over how to deal with the expenses of politicians and their use, or misuse, of those expenses which is the real bone of contention. It is my candid option that no matter what laws, rules and regulations you create there will always be some people who will threat the boundaries as if they were made of elastic.

“At the end of the day it all comes down to the personal honour and integrity of the individuals concerned. You give your word to those who vote for you and your party manifesto. Then you keep your word both as a party and an individual. If you do that then you create and slowly build up trust between representative and people. A covenant is established between them.

“That covenant bound of trust is, however, like a block of ice; melt it down and it is gone for ever. Someone else might recreate that necessary bound but those who break it never can. They have fallen into disrepute; the moral basis of their authority has vanished never to return.

“Both the UUP and the DUP respectively came to a point where they as parties and as individuals had to make a moral choice. The parties broke their covenant with those who elected them. Their ability to discern between right and wrong seemed to desert them completely.

“It is a great blessing that some people kept their word. In Jim Allister Northern Ireland has such an individual.”