Loyalists call for end to racist attacks

The Progressive Unionist Party and the Ulster Political Research Group, the political wings of the UVF and UDA, have called on loyalists to halt racist attacks on minority groups in Belfast and other areas of the North.

In a joint statement, PUP leader David Ervine and UPRG member Tommy Kirkham insisted that they were opposed to all forms of racism and were working to support minorities.

Loyalist paramilitaries have been blamed for a spate or racist attacks in recent weeks and months, many of them in the affluent south Belfast area.

Both the UVF and the UDA have links with far-right racist groups in Britain, including Combat 18, the National Front and the British National Party.