`Disquiet' in PUP at recent SF positions

The Progressive Unionist Party has confirmed disquiet in its ranks over the peace process with members enraged at Sinn Fein's…

The Progressive Unionist Party has confirmed disquiet in its ranks over the peace process with members enraged at Sinn Fein's handling of decommissioning and its conduct in government.

Meanwhile, a loyalist paramilitary group has urged other Protestant paramilitaries to stop killing members of their own community. The Ulster Freedom Fighters, a cover-name for the Ulster Defence Association, said there must be no more inter-loyalist violence.

An internal PUP discussion document seen by PA News debates whether the PUP should withdraw its support for the Belfast Agreement and catalogues a series of events since the establishment of the 10-week Executive which have dented unionist confidence in the accord.

Mr Billy Hutchinson, a PUP Assembly member, would neither confirm nor deny the existence of the document. However, he confirmed there was "disquiet" in the party over the "in your face" style politics of Sinn Fein.

READ MORE

Sinn Fein's recent attitude to decommissioning had "bolstered" the anti-Agreement faction and its "hyped-up anti-Britishness" on taking Executive office had angered many PUP supporters, he said.

On inter-loyalist violence, a UFF statement said "the greatest threat to the Protestant community now comes from within".