SIR Reg Empey has rejected any suggestions that the shooting of Mark Haddock may have further harmed his leadership of the UUP.
The shooting of the senior UVF figure in Newtownabbey on Tuesday has once again thrown the UUP relationship with the PUP into the spotlight.
Sir Reg denied that the shooting had further exacerbated the pressure on him.
He pointed out that all th
e Ulster Unionist MLAs had signed off on Mr Ervine's joining of the Stormont group.
"Everyone in our group agreed to this," said Sir Reg.
"Because the decision was taken collectively I will not be acting unilaterally.
"We will assess it in the cold light of day, as to what exactly happens as we move forward.
"In leadership you have the choice to try and take on the difficult issues or you can ignore them."
Sir Reg's comments appear to tally with remarks made by UUP MLA Esmond Birnie, who earlier yesterday called the
relationship with Mr Ervine "a political marriage and it can be dissolved by either party".
However, one Ulster Unionist source said that perhaps the only thing keeping Sir Reg in charge was a lack of other
options in the party.
"What's saving him is there's no creditable alternative," said the source. "There's not one MLA who can stand back and say 'I had nothing to do with this'.
"If any one of the 24 had said no, it wouldn't have happened."
Alliance leader David Ford was again scathing about the UUP's Ervine invitation.
"It now appears that UVF members carried out this appalling act," said Mr Ford.
"This raises serious questions about the judgement of Sir Reg Empey in linking up the Ulster Unionists with representatives of that organisation in the Assembly."
Alliance deputy leader Naomi Long said last night, ahead of the election of Belfast's Lord Mayor and deputy Lord Mayor that her party would not back any UUP candidates for the top jobs.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein MLA for North Belfast Gerry Kelly raised the suggestion of collusion between special branch and loyalist paramilitaries.
"Many will believe the attempt to murder Mark Haddock was an attempt to silence him and help prevent further allegations of widespread and systematic collusion between the Special Branch and the loyalist death squads emerging," said Mr Kelly.
