UK Govt To Ban All Prosecutions Related To The Troubles

Boris Johnson has said that the UK government will bring forward legislation to ban all prosecutions related to the Troubles in an effort to "draw a line under the Troubles".

According to the government a statute of limitations will be introduced "to apply equally to all Troubles-related incidents". It is understood that the legislation will apply for former security forces as well as ex-paramilitaries.

NI Secretary Brandon Lewis reportedly said that "it was a decision not taken lightly", but that he believed that it was "the best way to help Northern Ireland move further along the road to reconciliation".

Following the news, DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP said that the "effective amnesty for Troubles related crimes are totally unacceptable and will be rejected by everyone in Northern Ireland who stands for justice and the rule of law".

Sir Jeffrey continued: "The past is complex and we have always believed that any process to deal with the legacy of our troubled past should be victim centred. Victims will see these proposals as perpetrator focused rather than victim focused and an insult to both the memory of those innocent victims who lost their lives during our 'Troubles' and their families.

"Justice was corrupted in 1998 with the release of prisoners and then by Tony Blair's On-The-Run letters. Understandably many victims will feel that these proposals represent a further denial of the opportunity to secure justice for their loved ones.

"There can be no equivalence between the soldier and police officer who served their country and those cowardly terrorists who hid behind masks and terrorised under the cover of darkness. We find any such attempted equivalence as offensive.

"The Democratic Unionist Party, both publicly and privately, has, and continues to oppose any form of amnesty. Everyone must be equal under the law and equally subject to the law. We will oppose any plans that give an effective amnesty to those who murdered and maimed over many decades.

"Whilst we understand that with the passage of time the prospect of justice is diminishing for many but these proposals, if passed, will extinguish that flickering flame of justice completely and is a moral overreach that cannot be accepted."