Former Ulster Defence Association brigadier Jim Gray tonight joined a grim catalogue of leading loyalist paramilitary figures to be gunned down on the streets of Northern Ireland.

The far-right British National Party is planning its first electoral assault on Northern Ireland, it emerged today.

British-Irish Rights Watch has called on London police boss John Stevens to include the murder of UDA leader John McMichael in his investigation into alleged collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and the British security services.

A revived loyalist political consultation group could help draw the Ulster Defence Association back towards the peace process, it was claimed today.