Money-for-peace talks draw widespread scorn

UDA demands for a multi-million-pound government support package to retrain former paramilitaries have been condemned by parties on both sides of the political divide.

The criticisms followed reports that the loyalist terror group is seeking £70 million in talks with the British government for a scheme that would equip UDA members for new lives, divorced from criminality.

Downing Street confirmed yesterday that Mr Tony Blair's chief of staff, Mr Jonathan Powell, was meeting UDA representatives, but said the cost of any package had not been agreed.

The UDA also denied that any figure had featured in the talks, which take place in the wake of last November's decision by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, to restore official recognition of the organisation's ceasefire.

But the British government spokesman confirmed that £70 million was the amount being sought by the UDA, and added: "The line we are taking is the same as we are taking with Sinn Féin. All of this is dependent on an end to criminality and paramilitary activity."

The possibility of a deal for the paramilitary group drew strong criticism from both the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP. The UUP's South Antrim MP, Mr David Burnside, asked whether taxpayers' money could end up funding the lifestyles of loyalist gangsters. "Buying new four-wheel-drives and financing new BMW fleets? Gold medallions and identity bracelets for the leadership? The world's turned upside down," he said.

The SDLP's South Down MP, Mr Eddie McGrady, said that the victims of paramilitaries received only "a pittance", and he contrasted the prospect of a UDA support scheme to the shortage of funding for schools and hospitals.

"It's just so obscene it's beyond imagination," he told UTV.

But the Ulster Political Research Group, which has links with the UDA, said any money would go to loyalist communities left behind during the North's transition to peace.

"We're trying to play catch-up with the republican community," said Mr Tommy Kirkham.