Belfast riots: Ex-UUP Cllr Linzi McLaren says police 'must' engage with terror group leaders - and 'young people will do as they are told' by them
A former Ulster Unionist councillor has said police must “engage” with paramilitaries to bring an end to rioting in Belfast, arguing that “young people will do as they are told” by the leaders of terror groups.
Linzi McLaren said nobody is “asking for coercive control” or force to be used by paramilitary leaders, but the PSNI could “use the influence that they wield”.
It comes as Patricia McKeown, a regional secretary for Unison, said she believes paramilitary groups were “undoubtedly” involved in the Belfast unrest.
That has been disputed by the loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who says the leaderships of paramilitary groups are not involved in the violence – and have “instructed their members not to be orchestrating and encouraging any violence”.
Groups such as the UDA (Ulster Defence Association) and the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) are proscribed terrorist organisations in the UK.
Ms McLaren left the UUP last year, saying the party had made “grave errors” on its approach to the Irish language. However, she trades heavily on that role, describing herself on social media as “Linzi McLaren former UUP councillor”.
The former police officer, who served in the PSNI for 18 years, was speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme about recent racist violence across the province in the wake of a knife attack in Belfast on Monday.
Asked what she wanted to see from “loyalist leaders”, given Mr Bryson’s position that loyalist paramilitaries are not involved, Ms McLaren said “people look to leaders for guidance, for authority, for legitimacy”.
“And it is incumbent upon those whose job it is to lead by example to dampen down those gross misrepresentations of the migrant community – misinformation that leads to suspicion and hatred of those of a different coloured skin.
“But unfortunately, there have been, in my opinion, instances of performative politics over the last 48 hours, which I suspect is for political expediency, and it does nothing to assist the police in their endeavours to quell this completely unacceptable violence.
“But more importantly it does nothing to steer young people away from criminal records, subsequent unemployability, spells in prison.
“When they stand back and say, then, ‘well sure, it's nothing to do with me’, you know there is a huge responsibility that they have, and the rhetoric that they're using, and the narratives that they are presenting to members of the public. So, yeah, there's a huge burden of responsibility on their shoulders”.
Bryson said that would be exercising coercive control by loyalist paramilitaries.
“You can't say one day civilianise, go away, you shouldn't have any, you shouldn't be exercising any control, coercive or otherwise, in your community. And then say the next, look, hold on a minute, would you exercise a wee bit of coercive control over this? I mean, people can't have it both ways”, he said.
“How do they think that loyalists would do that other than by exercising coercive control. I mean, let's live in the real world of all of this. If the UVF and the UDA wanted to put a stop to 40, 50, 100 masked young men… they're going to have to use force to do it”, Mr Bryson said.
Ms McLaren said nobody “is asking for community leaders to come out and use coercive control against anyone”. She said it would be responsible for unionist political leaders to tell people to stay off the streets.
Asked by Mr Bryson how loyalist paramilitary leaders should stop young men involved in violence, the former UUP councillor said “You know that loyalist paramilitary leaders still hold a great influence over young people….
“There’s no reason for them to use violence to do so, however young people will do as they are told, and you know that is the case”, she said.
Mr Bryson said young people would do what they’re told by UDA or UVF commanders “because they’re scared of them and there’s a threat of violence in the background”.
“That’s coercive control. So, if you're asking the local UVF and UDA commander, you're saying, ‘Listen, don't use violence, but go down and tell them young lads to stop’.
“Do you think the young lads will stop because they think ‘goodness I've been persuaded by the merits of your argument?’ That’s coercive control”, Mr Bryson said.
Ms McLaren said: “I'm not asking them, but it is well known that senior police officers will engage with those high up in paramilitary organisations”.
She added: “If police officers are willing to engage with those people and use the influence that they wield, then that's what we need”.
“Police don't have the resources to be able to stop the violence. They are trying their best, they're bringing over mutual aid officers, they are absorbing the consequences of this by ending up with injuries. So police will use any resources at their disposal at the moment. As unpalatable as it is to have to engage with these people, but it must be done”.