Brexit: loyalist paramilitary groups renounce Good Friday agreement

Loyalist Communities Council warns of strength of feeling' over border checks but says protests should stay peaceful

Loyalist paramilitary groups have told the British and Irish governments they are withdrawing support for the Good Friday agreement in protest at Northern Ireland's Irish Sea trade border with the rest of the UK.

The Loyalist Communities Council, an umbrella group that represents the views of the UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando, wrote a letter to Boris Johnson and Ireland's taoiseach, Micheal Martin, warning of permanent destruction" of the 1998 peace agreement without changes to post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.