The Progressive Unionist Party has admitted that it made mistakes supporting the transfer of loyalist sectarian killer, Jason Campbell, from a jail in Scotland to Northern Ireland. The PUP's chief spokesman, Mr David Ervine, said his party had been merely trying to help the Campbell family when it requested the transfer. He said he had not expected that the request would cause such controversy and that it had never been his party's intention to increase sectarian tension in either Scotland or Northern Ireland. "We have made mistakes in the past. We hope not to make any in the future," he said.
"I did not anticipate the fall-out surrounding this and I would have to say that I personally have made mistakes. We have to hold our hands up with regret. We did not realise that there would be all this furore and hype."
Mr Ervine agreed that his party's support for Campbell's transfer laid it open to accusations of sectarianism and had damaged its image: "Perhaps we have not handled this issue with aplomb but I would ask people to measure our words and deeds over the past three or four years, and come to a conclusion about us on the whole rather than on a specific issue.
"There was no attempt to be devious or create any wonderful benefits for Jason Campbell. The whole theory behind it was to attempt to alleviate some of the suffering of the Campbells." Mr Ervine said he still believed that Campbell met the transfer criteria, although he did not regard him as "a political prisoner".