The chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party has called on the SDLP to display the "moral courage" to make the Belfast Agreement work.
Speaking at the end of Saturday's UUP conference, Lord Rogan said the SDLP had been "less than active in securing the agreement" and both it and Sinn Fein had the power to bring that agreement down.
"We know many in the SDLP want their leaders to commit themselves more fully to making the agreement work. Those leaders have developed a rare complacency for people who have been in politics for many years," he said.
"Those famous dogs in the street know that Sinn Fein's target is the SDLP electoral base. If the SDLP think that by trying to out-Sinn Fein Sinn Fein, especially on policing they will maintain their position, then they had better think again." The SDLP needed to offer an alternative, if it was to regain the ground it had been losing, Lord Rogan said. "The SDLP need to find their moral courage again to make the agreement work. I appeal to them to work with us - the democrats - not with Sinn Fein."
He called on the SDLP to recognise that the agreement would not survive unless unionists also felt confident they could support it. The SDLP could and should act responsibly to improve the political climate in Northern Ireland, he said. "The SDLP could begin by recognising that police reform must have the support of unionists as well as nationalists. It must have the support of the whole law-abiding community."
The SDLP had accepted the principle of consent, he said, and this meant accepting British sovereignty and the symbol of that sovereignty, the Union flag.
Lord Rogan attacked Sinn Fein's attitude to the agreement, saying the party had "a clear duty" to see to it that decommissioning took place. "Perhaps they thought that the decommissioning issue would go away, that we would forget about it. It hasn't and it won't. We are determined to see that aspect of the agreement implemented," he said.
The UUP's tradition of "honourable pragmatism" had led Mr Trimble to sign up to the Belfast Agreement. Through this the party had "secured our place in the United Kingdom. And we have the possibility of building a peaceful society".
"We know it won't happen overnight, but while policemen are not being murdered on miserable Monday mornings in the towns and villages of Ulster we can say that we have and are making progress."
He urged those at the conference "to be ready to fight next year's elections as a united disciplined party, proud of our achievements."