Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Billy Hutchinson’s comments in the News Letter last week and on the Nolan Show this morning – where instead of repairing the damage he added to it – showed that he and his party are in no position to take the battle to Sinn Fein.
“His language about a “hierarchy of victims”, the “conflict” and “war” was identical to the language of Sinn Fein/IRA.
“Today he claimed “remorse” for what he did, but refused to even say sorry for the murders he committed. More than that, while he rowed back from his suggestion that the people he murdered were in some way linked to the IRA there was no apology to their families for his comments in last week’s News Letter. Instead Mr Hutchinson merely talked about the need for a “process” to deal with the past. More Sinn Fein type speak.
“Anyone who thought that the PUP might be a credible force to take the political battle to Republicans will now, if they hadn’t before given their previous support for a designated days policy when it came to the flying of the Union Flag, have cause to stop and think. Are Republicans best faced down by those who adopt the Provo lingo?”