Unionist leader’s fury at defaced election poster

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie has condemned “mindless idiots” who placed one of his election posters with a noose around the neck outside a rally against the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The poster was removed from a bench in Lurgan, Co Armagh, on Friday evening by fellow unionist leaders Sir Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP and Jim Allister of the TUV.

The UUP leader, who has refused to attend the rallies, said he would “not be bullied, intimidated or distracted”.

Unionists have held rallies across Northern Ireland in protest over the Protocol, which sees extra checks on goods arriving from mainland Britain.