Jeffrey Donaldson and Doug Beattie at odds over 'party switch'

Doug Beattie and Jeffrey Donaldson have given different accounts of their conversation

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie has said he believes Sir Jeffrey Donaldson did consider switching parties last year, before he became DUP leader.

Last week, Sir Jeffrey said he turned down an offer to re-join the party.

The Nolan Show first reported the two men held talks after Sir Jeffrey lost the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leadership race in May.

On Monday, Mr Beattie said he had proof he and Sir Jeffrey talked about him returning to the Ulster Unionist Party.

Mr Beattie, who was giving his account of events to the Nolan Show, rejected Sir Jeffrey's claim that their meeting had focused on improving unionist co-operation.

He said he had "reached out" to Sir Jeffrey based on "soundings" he was getting from others in the DUP that Sir Jeffrey was unhappy and doubted his future in the party, having lost the leadership race to Edwin Poots.

Mr Beattie said this took place in early June.

"I sent a message to Sir Jeffrey Donaldson saying he'd be welcome to come back to the UUP. I sent that to Sir Jeffrey and from that we organised a time, a date and a place and we met up.

"Jeffrey may well have met me and had no intention [of re-joining], but that's not what I took from it."

• DUP leader 'turned down' offer to rejoin UUP

He said the meeting ended without a definitive answer from Sir Jeffrey on whether he would return, and the pair planned to meet again. However, this did not happen.

He also said he could provide proof, adding: "If anybody is going out there to say Doug Beattie is a liar then I will produce the proof to prove that I am not lying."

Two men, one meeting, two very different versions of events.

No-one else was in the room where things did, or didn't happen, depending on whose account you believe.

At a time when the DUP fallout was at its most brutal, some may say it's no surprise Sir Jeffrey might have contemplated returning to his old fold.

Not true, says he, insisting any conversations with Doug Beattie were about one thing only - unionist unity.

There have been plenty of calls for unity between the parties, with just 67 days to go until a crucial assembly election.

But this tit-for-tat hardly speaks to such unity on show and could prove a problem for both parties if their opponents seize on it.

Sir Jeffrey said he was "not questioning" Mr Beattie's integrity.

"I have nothing to fear from any of this, I am clear about that," he said.

The MP added that if "people are suggesting ... that I had made a decision to leave the DUP and to rejoin the Ulster Unionist Party, that is simply not the case".

Speaking to journalists in Westminster, Sir Jeffrey said he was approached last summer by Mr Beattie and was asked by him to re-join the UUP.

He said he met him and decided not to "take the matter further".

Sir Jeffrey also said the approach came from the UUP and he met Mr Beattie "out of courtesy ". They had "a good conversation", he added.

The DUP leader has previously dismissed reports he and Mr Beattie had discussed his return.

'Respectfully declined'

He said the UUP leader had given him an offer to rejoin the party, which he had "respectfully declined".

Earlier in February, he tweeted: "Any discussion I have had with the UUP focused on the future of unionism and need for closer unionist cooperation."

Sir Jeffrey quit the UUP in 2003.

DUP Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said questions on whether his leader considered switching were "tittle tattle".

"I don't think the public are interested in what happened a year ago or who said what, even now," he said.

Asked if he had discussed it with Sir Jeffrey, he added: "I've had no need to raise those concerns.

"Jeffrey Donaldson set out his position and I can tell you speaking to other people in my party, they accept that as well and want us to actually focus on what comes next rather than tittle tattle from the last year."

The DUP has been asked for a response to Mr Beattie's account.