A former UVF paramilitary turned peace negotiator has branded Scotland’s proposed hate crime laws as “stupidity”.

Billy Hutchinson – who spent 16 years in prison for murder before becoming a key figure in ceasefire talks between Loyal ists and Republicans – insists the only way to tackle bigotry is to facilitate dialogue between communities.

SNP Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf wants controversial new legislation which would make it illegal to “stir up hatred” on racial grounds.

But experts have warned that it could make insulting someone a criminal offence and have serious ramifications for freedom of speech.

Hutchinson, 65, said: “Banning people from talking about certain things is a nonsense, it is stupidity. That is what happened in Nor thern Ireland and, to some extent, that is why we had problems and conflict.

“It is taking a hammer to crack a nut – it is all stick and no carrot.

“People have ingrained views, whether it’s sectarianism or racism, and you need to work really hard with them across communities.

“They need to be brought together in a controlled place with the people they don’t like. We need to facilitate discussion rather than shut it down.

“It’s easy to hate people you don’t know. It is far more difficult to dislike or hate people that you do know.

“When you know people and understand why they think something, it is much easier to understand them and live with them.”

Hutchinson, whose book My Life In Loyalism is published this week, was also critical of the Scottish Government’s Offensive Behaviour at Football Act, which banned the singing of “of fensive” songs at footbal l matches before being repealed two years ago.

He said: “My message to the Scottish Government would be to stop introducing silly laws which are unenforceable.

“You need to be very careful with sectarianism because it can become a cancer that is incurable.

“Scotland is such an amazing and friendly place but then you hear about the sectarianism and hate under the surface in some communities and you realise it can be a small part of Northern Ireland.

“You have to talk things through with people so you can move forward

DIVIDE Rangers and Celtic fans. Above, new book by Hutchinson and make people feel comfortable where they l ive. That doesn’t happen in a day – it takes years.

“People hear songs on their granny’s knee but we need to get those songs in their place.

“If you outlaw things rather than accepting they exist, it just leads to more polarisation.

“I guarantee you people on both sides – Catholics and Protestants – will feel like the Government is picking on them.”

Hutchinson is now a Belfast councillor and leader of the Progressive Unionist Party ( PUP). He grew up in the Shankill Road area, where he joined the UVF and took part in rioting in the early days of the Troubles.

As a teenager in the early 70s he recruited for the Young

C it izen

Vo l u n t e e r s

( YCV) and in

1975 he was jailed along with fellow

YC V memb e r Thomas Winstone for the murder of two Catholics – Michael Loughran and Edward Morgan – who were shot and killed while walking to work.

In prison, Hutchinson continued to play a key role in the UVF but also began to campaign for peaceful negotiation and ultimately became a key figure in the peace process on his release.

He added: “I regret every death that happened. I don’t talk about individuals – there is no other way to talk about it.

“We were being hammered into the ground and there was such a sense of fear that we felt we needed to strike back at the IRA.

“The IRA didn’t wear a uniform so they were very hard to f ind and the strategy from the

UVF was if they killed Catholics it would drive the IRA out.

“I was 18 when I went to prison.

When I was

MOVE

Yousaf

People on both sides will feel like they are being picked on