Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister: “Today’s statement by the Secretary of State has all the appearance of politically motivated and timed window dressing to keep the failed process going.
“The Chief Constable was clear. Kevin McGuigan was shot by members of the Provisional IRA. That makes it a Provisional IRA murder, a PIRA which self-evidently hasn’t decommissioned all its weapons.
“The creation of this new body is all about finding a political way round a murder. We don’t need any new body to spin and package the reality that an illegal terrorist organisation still exists and that it is inextricably linked to a party of government.
“As for the promise of resources to fight criminality an obvious question arises – why weren’t the forces of law and order going after the criminals before now? Was there political pressure to stop them looking into certain dark corners? Why should we have any confidence that that will change now?
“This new body, which pro-agreement Unionism has already rushed to embrace, is mere political. We don’t even know who will sit on it yet. We do know they will be appointed by politicians desperate to save “the process”. Hence the compulsion to sweep murder under the carpet and sanitise the murderers. No amount of window dressing must be allowed to hide the reality of IRA murder.”