MP met with loyalists on ‘personal’ fact-finding mission

Simon Hoare told the Belfast Telegraph he had attended meetings in a personal capacity.
Simon Hoare said he met the UDA and UVF as part of a ‘listening exercise’ (Brian Lawless/PA)
PA Wire
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

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

Northern Ireland Affairs Committee statement

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.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in