Business leaders in Northern Ireland reacted angrily last night after a unionist politician accused them of following a pan-nationalist agenda and referred to them as "the stooges who represent the business community".
Mr John Hunter of the Ulster Unionist Party made the comments yesterday during a debate at the Northern Ireland Forum. "They are falling into the trap of believing that Northern Ireland's best interests are served by close links with the Republic of Ireland rather than with her natural market, the rest of the United Kingdom," said Mr Hunter. He said he "would wonder whose agenda some of these people are working to".
Mr Bill Tosh, chairman of the Confederation of British Industry in Northern Ireland, challenged Mr Hunter to validate his claims, and said it was "a ridiculous proposition". He said his organisation was only interested in improving the North's competitiveness in the global market and had no political agenda.
"We find it regrettable that Mr Hunter and people like him focus only on links with organisations in the Republic." The CBI was also undertaking "east-west" initiatives, such as the Trans-Pennine Corridor, which were never mentioned, Mr Tosh said.
The chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Colin Anderson, said Mr Hunter's judgment was flawed. The chamber was totally non-political. He called on all political parties to say what they were doing to promote an economic agenda "so that business bodies can support them in their strategy".
Mr Hunter was speaking on a UUP motion on the party's concern over "the apparent lack of accountability of some community-based bodies which make use of public funding". He said business and community leaders were following "the agenda of the NIO" in supporting North-South links.