A violent paramilitary tied to a proscribed terrorist organization maintains close connections with a right-wing student group in the United Kingdom, an investigative report has uncovered.
Allan Nesbitt, a convicted criminal and member of the Ulster Volunteer Force, is connected to Turning Point UK. The investigation, titled Contract Killers and the Far Right, launched in 2021 when an undercover reporter infiltrated TPUK, an independent offshoot of the American activist organization Turning Point USA. TPUK maintains close ties with several senior British Conservative Party figures as well as Reform UK leaders.
Jack Ross, the chief executive officer of TPUK, stood as a Conservative Party candidate in 2023. Ross introduced the undercover operative to Nesbitt, who resides in Glasgow, Scotland, and the two men shared a long association. Ross was filmed agreeing to pay Nesbitt thousands of pounds to orchestrate a staged political rally supporting the lifting of British sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Ross further told the undercover operative that for a specific sum, Nesbitt and his associates could arrange physical assaults. According to Ross, operatives could inflict severe beatings, slash facial features with weapons, carry out stabs, shoot targets, or take a life. Ross also told undercover operative that for “a certain amount”, Nesbitt and his contacts could arrange physical attacks, saying they could “kick the f*** out of someone. “Things have happened in the past where it was too risky to do that [gestures firing a gun], and I’ve just pulled out a knife and stabbed the c*** to death,” he said.
Seeking to test these claims, the undercover operative fabricated a dispute regarding a business rival who needed to be handled. During a private meeting at a London hotel, Nesbitt informed the reporters that he could arrange the requested outcome for a price, including eliminating the target with assistance from his UVF connections. Nesbitt asserted that the target would suffer a fatal accident and described terrorists as trained killers, while claiming personal responsibility for past stabbings. This included killing the fictional person with the help of his UVF connections.
In a subsequent video call, Nesbitt displayed a shotgun, a handgun, and live ammunition to demonstrate his capabilities. He stated that funds secured from the murder would finance the UVF in Northern Ireland, explaining that items were purchased in Scotland and smuggled across the border, a logistics pipeline he claimed to have operated for many years during the conflict known as The Troubles. In a later video call, Nesbitt showed off a shotgun, a pistol, and live ammunition to prove he had the means to follow through. “All the money gets raised in Scotland and the things get bought in Scotland and we smuggle them into Ireland.”. Those in favour of Northern Ireland remaining a part of the UK are widely known as unionists or loyalists.
The UVF operated on the Protestant loyalist side during the sectarian conflict beginning in the late 1960s, a period involving violent clashes over Northern Ireland’s constitutional status. Which began in the late 1960s, Catholic and Protestant groups in Northern Ireland fought over whether Protestant-majority Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK or join the Catholic-majority Republic of Ireland, during that period.
According to journalist Patricia Devlin, the UVF killed more than 500 people between 1966 and 1999, executing atrocities such as the 1971 McGurk’s bar bombing that left 15 dead and the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings that killed 33 people. Following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the organization largely transitioned into criminal drug networks while retaining the UVF designation, noted former National Crime Agency deputy director Roy McComb. They can start cutting people’s faces up. The UVF, like many other groups, transformed into a more traditional criminal gang, but after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that at least officially ended the Troubles.
McComb stated that the operational history of loyalism linking Northern Ireland and Scotland remains robust, involving historical firearms trafficking, intelligence sharing, and personnel transfers, noting that firearms serve as commodities easily sold to the far right. “Operationally, there’s certainly evidence previously of firearms being trafficked, of intelligence being shared, of activists being moved between the two countries [Scotland and Northern Ireland].
The investigation additionally documented connections between Turning Point UK and other right-wing agitators involved in demonstrations targeting migrants and LGBTQ+ rights. Ciaran O’Connor, a senior analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, observed that TPUK figures view such radical groups as physically formidable and utilize distancing disclaimers to shield themselves while exploiting polarizing social issues to mobilize support and demonize the housing of asylum seekers. Those seeking to break from the UK usually identify themselves as republicans or Irish nationalists.
A former UVF member remarked that while the UK far right constitutes a toothless tiger, alliances with individuals tied to decades-long terrorist campaigns possessing active weapons stocks and bombing capabilities could alter that dynamic entirely. “It changes whenever you make a connection to individuals who are behind a terrorist campaign for probably 40 years, and are still armed, and still have the ability to shoot and bomb,” the former UVF member said.
Scottish police were notified regarding Allan Nesbitt and his weaponry to ensure public safety. Jack Ross denied all findings completely, asserting that his statements to the undercover operative were not serious. Other featured parties did not reply to requests for comment.
