One of the principles set out by the CLMC in this announcement was that “there must be no dilution of the democratic procedure through which the rights of self determination of the people of Northern Ireland are guaranteed”. He realised that his own experience was “no different from somebody in the republican movement,” and found himself “drawn” to the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) – a working-class unionist party linked to the UVF – and also to education; he eventually graduated with a degree in social science. He played an important part, while in prison in the 1980’s and later on, in encouraging the Loyalist paramilitaries towards political accommodation, instead of violence. Hutchinson lost his seat in the 2003 election after the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin took an extra seat each.

Written with great candour and honesty, this is a gripping memoir of an extraordinary life which reveals previously unpublished accounts of both the Northern Ireland Troubles and the peace process that culminated in the historic Belfast Agreement of 1998. Hutchinson, as the leader of the UVF prisoners in Long Kesh, through contacts with Pat Thompson, his republican counterpart, helped get Catholic and Protestant clergy involved in exploring political ways forward. In the early 1970s Billy was involved in the formation of the Young Citizen Volunteers and was later influential in brokering the loyalist ceasefire of 1994. The former UVF prisoner, who was a member of the loyalist negotiating team during the 1998 peace talks, said: “In the coming days and weeks, loyalism will have a role to play. PUP leader Billy Hutchinson was speaking in the wake of a letter from the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) to unionist political leaders.A native of the Shankill Road, Belfast, Hutchinson took part in a series of riots in the area, during which Shankill dwellers clashed with residents of the neighbouring nationalist Unity Flats area. The ‘Keep Your Word’ template letters have been produced by loyalist advocacy group Let’s Talk Loyalism as part of its campaign against post-Brexit trading arrangements. Before this, he had been a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was a founder of their youth wing, the Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV). Spence told Adair he would but delayed as he wanted to end the feud with as little bloodshed as possible whilst his phone had been tapped by RUC Special Branch who were able to warn Hutchinson. On 31 October of that same year, Bertie Rice, a friend of Hutchinson and a voluntary worker at his constituency office, was shot and killed by members of the UDA's North Belfast Brigade who were close to Adair.

After his release in 1990, he was involved with Gusty Spence and others, in the peace process which led to the announcement, in October 1994, by the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) , of a ceasefire. I can still remember him talking to Peter Taylor about the Troubles and thinking I don't particularly like this person, but reading his book and how he explains his actions makes me look at him from a completely different perspective. We had an organisation before we went into the UVF and we were all young, and the difficulty with that was we just couldn’t see a way out.How could concessions to republicans be considered, while the IRA was still in existence, and people were being killed? Everybody just needs to wait to see what happens and then after that, allow the politics to take over. There should be no effort to evade scrutiny and public debate, and there is an onus on all those who feel strongly to play their part in the debate. He proved very useful because of his knowledge of republican areas Although there was much indiscriminate violence, there was also some political thinking taking place among Loyalists as early as the 1970’s. Hutchinson maintained a high level of fitness while in prison, running 15 miles a day inside the perimeter of his compound.