NI MPs React As Troubles Legacy Plans Face Opposition

As dozens of MPs have called for the Prime Minister to drop plans to investigate military veterans accused of Troubles crimes, the DUP has told Theresa May to stand by the armed forces and defy "republicans who are trying to re-write Northern Ireland history".

Sinn Fein, however, claim the government is attempting to subvert the interests of people in NI to ensure it's own survival.

A Government consultation paper, Addressing The Legacy Of Northern Ireland's Past, was launched in May to address how a historic investigation could be carried out.

In a letter to Theresa May, 150 Tory MPs and peers said a new Historical Investigations Unit would put "service and security personnel at an exceptional disadvantage".

In July, over 30 Tory MPs supported a backbench proposal for a 20-year time limit on reporting cases involving former members of the armed forces who served in Northern Ireland.

Earlier this month, a cross-party group of Westminster politicians, including four former NI secretaries, urged current secretary Karen Bradley to draw a line under the region's past.

Lord Hain and the seven other signatories advised prioritising compensation for victims rather than investigations.

Speaking to the BBC, MP Sammy Wilson said: "Theresa May has to stand by the armed forces and she has to defy and stand up against those people especially on the republican side in Northern Ireland who are trying to re-write history to give the impression- as Gerry Kelly has done- that the main protagonists in the terrorist campaign and which people suffered for over 30 years was the British Government."

Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy said it was an attempt by the "hard right" in Westminster to undermine previously agreed legacy proposals "by having special arrangements for ex-soldiers" and was motivated by self-interest in terms of the Government's survival and reliance on the DUP.

"There cannot be amnesty for one set of people. We need to see the legacy issues resolved, they have been an ongoing sore for so many people who want to see some attempt at closure for the pain and suffering they have.

"The British Government need to stop subverting their own interests and get on with providing some degree of comfort for people here," he added.



(JG)