portions 106 of each of the wires 10 assist in pushing the wires 10 into the insulation displacement terminals 14 the cable holding device 2 is prevented from moving distally from the frame 80 by the rear face 56 bearing on the support faces 94 of the support wall 86 because the rear ends 54 of the blades 50 are accommodated in the rebated portions 90 no force is applied to the blades 50 the trigger 76 is released and the cable holding device 2 and the connector 8 are moved proximally by a small distance so that the connector 8 and the cable holding device 2 may be laterally displaced to the position shown in fig1 where the rear ends 54 of the blades 50 are aligned with the support faces 94 the trigger 76 is then squeezed again so that the moveable plate 88 displaces the cable holding device 2 and the connector 8 distally in the frame 80 as this occurs the rear ends 54 of the blades 50 are forced into alignment with the rear faces 56 of the cable holding device 2 and the cutting edges 52 of the blades 50 sever free ends 108 fig7 of the wires 10 to leave only a minimum amount of the wire 10 projecting outwardly from each of the insulation displacement terminals 14 the free ends 108 of the wires 10 which have been.