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UUP MEP Jim Nicholson has said that the EU must pass new laws on reducing mobile phone roaming charges before the summer holidays so that people from Northern Ireland can benefit from reduced tariffs when they are abroad.

Last night EU Member States and MEPs reached a preliminary deal on cutting mobile phone roaming charges, which would see the cost of calling home from another EU state set at a maximum of 49 euro cents (£0.34) and 24 cents (£0.16) to receive a call. These caps would drop a little in 2008, and more in 2009.

A vote is expected next Wednesday in the European Parliament, while EU telecommunication Ministers are due to consider the package on 7 June.

Speaking from Brussels Mr Nicholson said,

“It was important for the EU to get a grip on the spiralling cost of using your mobile phone abroad. I am sure that many people from Northern Ireland, whether they have been on holiday or on business, have been stung by huge mobile phone bills on their return.

“I hope that my fellow MEPs and European telecommunication Ministers formally back the compromise deal that was struck yesterday so that the new prices can come into force before the summer otherwise consumers will have to wait until the autumn.

“For far too long now mobile phone companies have been making excessive profits, at the consumer’s expense, on roaming charges. Such a vast difference in cost between domestic and international calls is unjustifiable and unacceptable in a single market. People already pay enough for their summer holidays and shouldn’t be hit with more high charges for using their mobile abroad.”

East Belfast Ulster Unionist and former Serviceman Michael Copeland today appealed to the media and those feeding the current frenzy surrounding the decision by the Ministry of Defence not to send HRH Prince Harry to Iraq to stop.

In a statement Mr Copeland said,

In my view this decision has been taken, not because of the danger posed to the Prince himself but to the danger posed to those around him by his presence.

I well recall during our own recent troubles being required to surrender my own ‘White Pips’ (insignia of rank) and light coloured puttees as they identified those of commissioned rank. Prince Harry is a young man, and like any young soldier will be extremely disappointed that he has not been permitted to accompany his men to this theatre of operations.

He is above all else a soldier and has received an order made by his superior officers which he must accept. The matter has not been helped by repeated media intervention and some of the comments from those that never served have not been helpful.”

UUP Victims Spokesman Derek Hussey today branded the creators of an internet based paramilitary game set in Northern Ireland as tasteless and insensitive.

The game, in which the objective is to become top dog among paramilitaries has provoked a strong response from victims and groups representing victims.

In a statement Mr Hussey said,

“This game really is in poor taste and those who have created it and who presumably are profiting from it are insensitive.

There is nothing glamourous or playful about paramilitarism in Northern Ireland. At a time when many victims are coming to terms with the new dispensation and politicians are trying to draw a line under the past, this type of nonsense does not help. I would urge the creators of the game to think again and remove it from the internet.”

Ulster Unionist Mid-Ulster MLA Billy Armstrong has said recent NHS changes in District Nursing Care are having a negative effect on patient care.

Mr Armstrong commented after inviting Dr Smith and Mrs Moira Doyle (Nurse) from Cookstown Heath Centre to Parliament Buildings yesterday for a meeting with Health Minister Michael McGimpsey.

In a statement Mr Armstrong said,

“I was approached by senior representatives at the Health Centre in Cookstown who are concerned at the effect that recent changes by the NHS on District Nursing Care are having on patient care.

Increased demands on administration and bureaucratic procedures are making it harder for patients to receive care because so much time is spent form filling. As a result the quality of service has reduced.

In palliative and terminal care the changes have led to a lack of continuity of care and a confusion of responsibilities. For terminal care in particular this is completely unacceptable when those dying need a sensitive and caring approach, not one driven by NHS Diktat.

In Cookstown other problems include a reduction in Treatment Room Care and out of hours services. It is alarming when health care professionals are so incensed and fed up with the changes foisted upon them that they feel they need political support. I am only too pleased to offer this support and I know from meeting with the Minister that he too is eager to listen to their concerns and act upon them.”

Ulster Unionist Member of the European Parliament Jim Nicholson MEP has said today that the new Northern Ireland Executive at Stormont must speak with one voice and demand that the Government at Westminster provide a secure future for the hundreds of rural post offices across Northern Ireland.

Mr Nicholson has written to the Northern Ireland Executive today urging them to make representations to the Government at Westminster about the issue.

The UUP MEP was speaking as the trade and industry secretary Alistair Darling is set to confirm today that about 2,500 post offices are to close by 2009.

Speaking from the Balmoral Show Mr Nicholson said,

“Make no mistake post office closures are going to hit Northern Ireland and its rural communities very hard. It will deliver a body blow to the economic and social sustainability of rural communities across the Province.

“This issue is of vital importance and one that the Executive at Stormont must deal with immediately. It is essential that the Executive speak with one voice to ensure a secure future for the hundreds of rural post offices across the Province threatened with closure.

“I would urge the Executive to consider working together with the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales because after all rural communities across the UK will suffer under the expected closures. This is definitely an issue where the regions of the UK are all stronger working together than we are working apart.

“Post offices in isolated rural areas benefit the community. They are a central area where people can meet and in many cases if you take the Post Office out of the community, the community dies.

“For many people, particularly the elderly, the sick, parents with young families and those without immediate access to transport, the potential closure of so many post offices would have a major negative impact upon them and their everyday lives.”

Ulster Unionist Councillor Stephen Nicholl has condemned the Rev Ian Paisley for his Republican outburst against Her Majesty’s Ministers.

Speaking today Councillor Nicholl stated,

“Now that the hype of last week has died down we can take time to reflect on the many messages given but perhaps the most startling was the Rev Paisley’s outburst in which he stated

“Many of the problems are not of our making but are the making of squatters (Northern Ireland Office ministers), as I call them, from outside our country who flew in and flew out of here.”

Paisley’s adoption of such openly Republican language suggests that while his relationship with Martin appears very jovial and light hearted some of Martins Republican traits are rubbing off on Ian.

The term ‘squatters’ suggests illegal occupation; of course a key Republican position over the years has been that Government Ministers were illegally in Ireland. As to them coming from ‘outside our country’ unionists would view the United Kingdom as a national territory. While accepting that integration may be the purer form of unionism but that devolution provides more accountable government for the regions it is clear that we can never view Her Majesty’s representatives as ‘squatters’ within the United Kingdom ruled by her.

Since the joint tenants of the OFMDM both now believe, apparently, that the British Government held office here illegally what now is the future for the union. >From Paisley’s comments it would appear that we could well drift into a Home Rule scenario where his bitterness is focussed on Her Majesty’s Government while he looks for succour south of the border.

For Real Unionists the political struggle for the Union is only just beginning.”