Ervine Using Misdirection To Get Out Of A Jam?

David Ervine of the PUP has got his knickers in a knot about Peter Hain’s plans to withdraw the PUP’s assembly allowances because of continuing UVF activity.

Instead of responding to the initial statement - which was along the lines of “the IMC reports that the UVF is still engaged in paramilitary violence. The PUP are affiliated with the UVF, and so unless you disown/condemn the organisation, we’ll have to penalise you.” - Ervine took this as an accusation that he himself was a criminal and that if there was any evidence against him, he would like to be arrested right away, thank you very much.

The SDLP’s Alban Maginness commented that Ervine had “descended to the level of Adams-style political stunts rather than confront the reality of what the UVF is about”. We all remember Gerry’s indignant reaction after the Northern Bank robberies, don’t we? “Alright, you say I’m in the IRA? Better slap on the handcuffs and take me to the station, lads!”

Ervine also suggested that Hain was trying to push the PUP out of politics. He’s probably right - after all, the DUP wiped the floor with them at the last elections. There’s virtually nothing left and they are a severely weakened party. Would Hain be so heavy handed with Sinn Fein? I don’t think so.

Anyway, all of this has quite effectively distracted people from the real issue: the UVF’s continued paramilitary activity. This isn’t a new thing in politics, but misdirection like this distracts the public from the real issues. It also raises a few questions about media reporting too - when given the choice between covering a catfight among politicians or getting a straight answer on a serious issue, they’ll choose the catfight every time.