Ideology
Vanguard is usually considered to have been a right-wing party. In its earliest days it adopted the style associated with falangist parties with an honour guard, a common salute and a habit of wearing sashes. This led to it being characterised as Mosleyite or even neo-Nazi with the Stormont unionist MP William McConnell claiming that Vanguard rallies involved "a certain Hitlerian-type figure ... walking up and down the lines, inspecting his so-called storm-troopers." Craig however denied that the party was either neo-nazi or paramilitary.
Ulster Vanguard was intended to provide an umbrella organisation for various loyalist groups. It had close links with, and strong support from loyalist paramilitary groups. Vanguard had its own paramilitary grouping called the Vanguard Service Corps (USC), whose main function seemed to be to provide escorts for Vanguard speakers attending rallies.
Read more about this topic: Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party
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