A BRIEFING note for about the maverick north Down unionist MP Jim Kilfedder informed the Secretary of State that he had “discreet links” with paramilitaries and was rumoured by opponents to be gay.
Secretary of State Jim Prior met Mr Kilfedder at Stormont Castle on February 22, 1982 and the MP told Mr Prior that his Ulster Popular Unionist Party “sought the establishment of a liberal democracy in Northern Ireland”.
The party said that it was concerned about the state of the economy and also pressed for a Bill of Rights to be enacted before any restoration of devolution.
The party also urged the Government “not to fund segregated schools, although the churches should be able to support them entirely from their own resources”.
A background note about Mr Kilfedder prepared for the Secretary of State described him as a “highly individualistic politician [who] though steeped in unionism ... is a maverick in the unionist ranks”.
The note described him as a “remarkable vote-getter in north Down”, and said that he “maintains discreet links with Protestant paramilitaries”.
It added: “Unmarried, he is rumoured (by his opponents) to have homosexual tendencies.”