Northern Ireland Protocol: PUP leader Billy Hutchinson calls for calm after reports that UVF leaders threatening to 'wreck the place' if they don't like Rishi Sunak's deal

Over the weekend, the Sunday Life reported that senior UVF figures have warned that loyalists will “wreck the place” and “the streets will be in flames” if any Brexit deal between the UK and EU does not meet their demands.

New posters have been erected across different parts of Northern Ireland highlighting loyalist demands regarding the deal. Previously there has been some rioting by loyalists in Belfast in relation to the protocol, although the majority of street protests against the Irish Sea Customs Border to date have taken the form of peaceful marches.

But Mr Hutchinson, who is himself a former UVF prisoner, called for calm and warned loyalists that there is "no other way forward" than politics. He also called on people to give unionist leaders space to work out the best possible deal, regardless of any text that might be unveiled by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Mr Hutchinson said he was in England over the weekend and had only just heard about the reported threat on Sunday night.

"My view is that everybody is tense and everybody's upset about this," he told the News Letter. "Everybody wants it to go the way unionism needs it to go. People will, I suppose, get angry about this."" But my view very clearly from the Progressive Unionist Party is we all need to be working together - the Unionist parties - to make sure we get a political solution to this."

Regardless of whatever text is unveiled he called for calm."My view is after this is all over and we see what is there - it doesn't matter what's there - I will still be calling for calm. The only way forward is politics."

This is his view personally and also that of the PUP, he added.

He understood that there may be anger, but he said the content of the likely text "depends on who you listen to at this point in time".

"So I think a lot of us will wait until we see the text, which is the right thing to do, because unless somebody's got an inside line and has seen the text, I think we should just wait until that announcement by the Prime Minister."

After it is published, he said, a number of things need to happen.

"People will need to look at it and say, 'Yeah, this goes a long way to help us' or 'it doesn't go far enough' and that will be a conversation.

"But during all of that people need to allow politics to try and sort that out. There's no other way forward. The only way forward is through politics and through the peace process. Everybody just needs to wait to see what happens and then after that, allow the politics to take over."

He added that all unionist parties agree on the way forward, regardless of any published text.

"We all need to stay calm and allow the unionist parties to try and sort this out. Jeffrey [Donaldson] is working very hard at Westminster to get an agreement that suits all of unionism."

READ MORE:

LCC chairman David Campbell, ex-PUP deputy leader Dr John Kyle and author Dr Aaron Edwards assess threat of UVF violence