The Ulster Unionist Party has condemned Paramilitary threats made against its Leader Steve Aiken OBE MLA, and it’s Justice Spokesperson, Doug Beattie MC MLA.

Steve Aiken OBE MLA 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’.

“20 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.”

Doug Beattie MC MLA 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.”