‘UVF leadership concerned about the protocol... but they did not order rioting’

The head of the Progressive Unionist Party has moved to quash the idea that the UVF leadership has sanctioned recent disturbances.
By Adam Kula
Published 5th Nov 2021, 14:08 BST
17/11/2020: Billy Hutchinson, a former UVF terrorist and a Progressive Unionist Party councillor in Belfast City Council17/11/2020: Billy Hutchinson, a former UVF terrorist and a Progressive Unionist Party councillor in Belfast City Council
17/11/2020: Billy Hutchinson, a former UVF terrorist and a Progressive Unionist Party councillor in Belfast City Council

Belfast city councillor Billy Hutchinson said that if the paramilitary group had really wanted to send a message, then the trouble would have been more widespread.

He was speaking to the News Letter following a week of disorder in parts of the Province, beginning with the gunpoint hijack and arson of a bus in a loyalist-controlled part of Newtownards on Monday.

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Then Wednesday night saw interface violence erupt at a loyalist/republican boundary in the Shankill area of north-west Belfast.

Recent UVF sign in east Belfast (note the Protestant Action Force triangle on the left)Recent UVF sign in east Belfast (note the Protestant Action Force triangle on the left)
Recent UVF sign in east Belfast (note the Protestant Action Force triangle on the left)

A source close to the Bowtown estate where the hijack happenned indicated that the culprits were with the UVF.

And a group calling itself the Protestant Action Force (a covername for the UVF) claimed responsibility.

Mr Hutchinson said: “I’d say this right away – I’d argue now the leadership of the UVF wouldn’t have orchestrated that.

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“They would not have okayed it. They haven’t okayed riots to happen or anything else.

“The UVF leadership are concerned around the Protocol, but the last thing they want is to create violence on the streets, because they know where that goes. Therefore they wouldn’t have done that.

“If they had’ve okayed something like that, why did it not happen in every area?

“When they okay things, it goes across each of their batallion areas.

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“I’m talking to you from experience. If they wanted to make a song and dance about it, they’d have picked their strongholds to do it in.”

Mr Hutchinson was convicted of helping murder two random Catholic men in 1974.

He voted Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, because he believed leaving the EU “would lead to conflict”.

Regarding the News Letter’s report yesterday, which contained official Irish government data on trade, he said it was a source of “concern” for him.

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The data shows a leap in the amount of cross-border NI / ROI trade being done since the intriduction of the Irish Sea border, and suggests business “is diverting from GB-NI trade routes to Ireland-NI trade routes”.

Councillor Hutchinson said: “We’re concerned Sinn Fein and others will use these statistics to say we’ve got an economic united Ireland.”

Click here for more: Ken Wilkinson – Ex-UVF man said to be ‘fearless’ anti-drug and peace process advocate

Click here: ‘What school grades do I need to join PSNI – and how much will I earn?’

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Click here: Date is set for massive Orange centenary parade in Northern Ireland – akin to 2012’s vast Ulster Covenant march

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