British Govt ‘turned blind eye to UDR-loyalist links’

The Pat Finucane Centre in Derry has claimed to have uncovered new evidence of collusion between the British army and loyalist paramilitaries.

The organisation says papers uncovered in London show the British government knew more than 30 years ago that the Ulster Defence Regiment was deeply infiltrated by loyalist groups.

The secret intelligence briefing concludes that between 5% and 15% of UDR member were also members of the UDA and UVF and the regiment was an important source of guns for these loyalist groups.

The Pat Finucane Centre says the Troubles could have ended years earlier if successive British prime ministers had acted rather than turning a blind eye to such information.

Worse still, it also claims to have found evidence that the UDA was used as a death squad as part of an official British government strategy to tackle the IRA.