Sorry for the three posts on the same subject in a couple of hours, but I think Mark Devenport’s blog piece flags up an interesting Hobbsian aspect of the Purvis resignation:
Having condemned the murder of Bobby Moffett and the subsequent intimidation of people in the Shankill area, Dawn Purvis today went an extra mile by parting company altogether with the UVF’s political wing, the PUP. Cynics may note that this puts her Stormont allowances beyond the grasp of any future sanction from the Independent Monitoring Commission.
However as Mark goes on to note:
Ms Purvis never relished the role of explaining away UVF transgressions – she clearly had no stomach to act as a mouthpiece for those who ordered Mr Moffett’s death. David Ervine’s widow Jeanette has described the murder as “the last straw*” and blamed “a handful of people who don’t want politics.”
It’s also, at this point, worth pointing out The Dissenter’s view of where this leaves Purvis’ voters in an earlier thread on Slugger…
If, as claimed, Purvis speaks (spoke) for ‘loyalism’ then she has disenfranchised that electorate by resigning from all, but keeping the salary.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty