Loyalist paramilitaries threaten two military veteran MLAs, an Alliance MP and an SDLP MLA

Last week the south east Antrim UDA unit threatened journalists at the Sunday Life and Sunday World newspapers.

That attempt to intimidate the media was widely denounced and among those speaking out against the paramilitary threats were Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken, fellow UUP MLA Doug Beattie, Alliance MP Stephen Farry and senior SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone.

Last night the PSNI separately contacted the four men to warn them that they have details of threats against them from loyalist paramilitaries.

The two UUP men are both military veterans, with Mr Aiken having commanded one of the UK’s nuclear submarines.

Mr Beattie, a former full-time Royal Irish Regiment soldier who is now an Army reservist, served as regimental sergeant major to Colonel Tim Collins in the Iraq War and then won the Military Cross for bravery in Afghanistan with his superiors praising how he “time and time again” led his troops in battle in Gashmir, holding the town against the Taliban for 14 days.

He had described the threats to journalists as “fascism at its finest, with beer-bellied thugs directing spotty faced kids”.

Mr Farry, the Alliance MP for North Down, said: “None of us will be deterred in anyway from defending freedom of press and standing up to paramilitaries”.

UUP leader Steve Aiken said: “We must all stand up for freedom of speech and we cannot allow our hard fought principles of democracy to be ever undermined by threats of violence or intimidation”.

Mr McGlone, a veteran MLA for Mid Ulster, is one of the Assembly’s deputy Speakers and a widely respected figure across the political spectrum.

Mr McGlone said that he would not be intimidated: “Late last night, I received a call from senior PSNI officers with details about a loyalist threat against me.

“This is not the first time I’ve been threatened by paramilitaries but I can assure those responsible, I will not be silenced, censored or intimidated by faceless thugs. In the week of VE commemorations, it is ironic and deeply sinister that they have chosen to mimic fascist attacks on journalists and elected representatives.

“This threat, and the threats made against journalists in the last week, are an attack on the democratic tradition on this island. It must be resisted and those responsible must understand that they will never win.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood MP said: “Those responsible for this threat obviously don’t know Patsy McGlone. He will not be broken or silenced by those intent on intimidating him and others.

“These thugs need to understand that every threat against an elected representative or a journalist or anyone else is an attack on our peace and an attack on the democratic will of the people of this island. It is a fight they will never win.

“The threats made against Patsy and a number of journalists in the last week should be lifted immediately. Everyone on this island should be able to live and work free from the threat of violence.”

Mr Aiken said: “Having served in the Royal Navy for 30 years and in many operational environments, it is somewhat ironic to return home to Northern Ireland and be threatened by so-called ‘loyalists’.

“Twenty years on from the Belfast Agreement there is no such thing as a paramilitary group left in Northern Ireland, there are only organised crime gangs who exist to make money for their mafia bosses, generally by selling drugs.

“The Secretary of State and the Chief Constable need to make it very clear – by words and deeds – that this type of threat will not be tolerated in any part of the United Kingdom, and that the people responsible will be on the receiving end of swift and decisive action.

“These threats are not normal and they should not be treated as if they are. Threats against politicians and journalists by crime gangs are nothing less than fascism – it wouldn’t be tolerated in Glasgow, Manchester or London, and it shouldn’t be tolerated here.”

Mr Beattie said: “I have been threatened many times while serving my country in uniform and I treated those threats with contempt, as I do with this present threat.

“What does concern me is that criminal gangs should feel confident enough to threaten journalists and politicians, and this is a testament to just how little they fear the criminal justice system in this country. This is simply not acceptable in a western European democracy in the 21st Century.

“The vast majority of people in Northern Ireland simply want to get on with their lives. They deserve the chance to do that free from gangsters and criminals.

“Local communities, plagued by these gangs who attempt to drain them of their dignity and hard earned money, need the Police to round up these bullies and put them away for as long as possible. There should be no more talk of strategies and inducements; quite simply, these criminal gangs need to be closed down once and for all with sentences that act as a real deterrent.”

Sinn Féin MLA Linda Dillon condemned the “despicable threats” and said that the PSNI needed “to take action to take criminal gangs off the streets”.

A PSNI spokesman said: “We do not discuss the security of individuals and no inference should be drawn from this. However, if we receive information that a person’s life may be at risk we will inform them accordingly. We never ignore anything which may put an individual at risk.”

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