Al Jazeera investigation finds TPUK links to UVF member in Britain

An Al Jazeera investigation found links between the British right-wing student group Turning Point UK (TPUK) and Allan Nesbitt, a convicted criminal from Glasgow. The outlet describes him as a member of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), which it characterizes as a banned terrorist organization.

An undercover Al Jazeera journalist joined TPUK in 2021. TPUK is an independent offshoot of the US right-wing activist organization Turning Point USA. TPUK chief executive Jack Ross, who ran for the Conservative Party in 2023, introduced the journalist to Nesbitt.

Claims of violent services

According to the investigation, Ross agreed to pay Nesbitt thousands of pounds for a staged political action supporting the lifting of British sanctions against Zimbabwe. Al Jazeera also claims that Ross told the undercover contact that Nesbitt and his associates could, for a certain sum, arrange physical attacks, including beatings, stabbings, shootings or murder.

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To test these claims, the journalist invented a story about a commercial dispute with an alleged competitor. During a private meeting at a London hotel, Nesbitt, according to Al Jazeera, said he could arrange the murder of the fictional person through his UVF connections. In a subsequent video call, he displayed a rifle, a pistol and live ammunition, the outlet reported.

Claims about weapons transfers

Nesbitt also said that money for a murder could go toward arming the UVF in Northern Ireland. According to him, funds are raised in Scotland, weapons are bought there, and then smuggled into Ireland. He claimed to have been involved in such weapons transfers for many years.

Roy McComb, former deputy director of the UK National Crime Agency, told Al Jazeera that there are long-standing loyalist links between Scotland and Northern Ireland, and that there had previously been evidence of firearms and activists moving between these territories. Al Jazeera informed Police Scotland about Nesbitt and the weapons he displayed. Jack Ross completely denied the journalists' findings, saying his words were not serious; other parties mentioned did not respond to requests.