EAST BELFAST Assembly member Dawn Purvis has resigned from the Progressive Unionist Party following the suspected Ulster Volunteer Force murder of Bobby Moffett on the Shankill in Belfast last Friday.
Ms Purvis made clear yesterday that the murder of Mr Moffett made it no longer feasible for her to remain as leader or a member of the PUP, which is the political wing of the UVF.
“I can no longer offer leadership to a political party which is expected to answer for the indefensible actions of others,” she said.
She said she was leaving because the PUP was “severely restricted” over its relationship with the UVF.
Ms Purvis is to continue as an independent Assembly member with Belfast councillor Dr John Kyle taking over the interim leadership of the PUP.
Her resignation comes amid tensions on the Shankill over this afternoon’s funeral of 43-year-old Mr Moffett, who was gunned down in broad daylight by two masked men in front of shoppers on the Shankill last Friday. It is believed that Mr Moffett was murdered because he was in dispute with local UVF figures.
PSNI assistant chief constable Drew Harris said yesterday that UVF leadership involvement in the murder was “an active line of inquiry”.
The murder also raises questions about the bona fides of the UVF, which last year said it had decommissioned its weapons. The Independent Monitoring Commission last week said the UVF had a “cohesive leadership” and it still appeared to be an “organisation going out of business”.
But the IMC suspected that some UVF members had retained weapons and that some members were involved in many so-called punishment attacks, drugs dealing and other criminality.
