Progressive Unionist Party leader Mr David Ervine has confirmed the PSNI chief constable Mr Hugh Orde's claim that loyalist paramilitaries were behind this week's latest incidence of racism in south Belfast.
Mr Ervine said last night that the UVF, to which the PUP is linked, was responsible for distributing pamphlets in the loyalist Village area of Belfast complaining about the "influx of yellow people" and calling on locals to preserve their Protestant heritage.
Mr Ervine deplored the distribution of this pamphlet, the most recent of many similar racist incidents in south Belfast.
However, Mr Ervine said he did not know whether it was authorised by the UVF leadership. The PUP was seeking to determine how the incident happened, he added. He said if the UVF leadership was behind the leafleting then it would have profound implications for the relationship between the UVF and PUP.
"We can't share the same ground with avowed racists. There is no doubt about that. We can't do it and we won't do it," added Mr Ervine.
