MP met with loyalists on ‘personal’ fact-finding mission
Simon Hoare told the Belfast Telegraph he had attended meetings in a personal capacity.
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
A Conservative MP reportedly met with loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland as a personal fact-finding mission, a Westminster committee has said.
The Belfast Telegraph reported that Simon Hoare, chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, held separate meetings with UDA and UVF figures earlier this month to encourage them to buy into the Windsor Framework.
Mr Hoare told the newspaper he had attended the meetings in a personal capacity.
The UDA and UVF are illegal paramilitary organisations. While both are on ceasefire, they have been linked with ongoing criminality.
The chair’s visit to Northern Ireland was to fact-find to inform House and committee discussion on paramilitary activity and organised crime in Northern Ireland. The visit was not an attempt to represent the committee or communicate its views
Police said earlier this year they were monitoring tensions in loyalist areas following the unveiling of the Windsor Framework, designed to ease trading barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
In late 2021, two buses in loyalist areas were hijacked and burnt amid rising tensions over opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee released a statement about the meetings, which said they were not an attempt to represent the committee.
The statement said: “The chair’s visit to Northern Ireland was to fact-find to inform House and committee discussion on paramilitary activity and organised crime in Northern Ireland.
“The visit was not an attempt to represent the committee or communicate its views.”
Mr Hoare told the Belfast Telegraph: “I was there to listen directly to a group of people in Northern Ireland who are so angry and frustrated.
“It was a listening exercise to help inform my understanding of a group of people who are hard to reach.”
He added: “I will talk to anybody in and around Northern Ireland who is prepared to talk to me.
“You can talk to all sorts of people about all sorts of things. It doesn’t mean you agree with them.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.