Troubles bill to be discussed in Parliament

The government's Northern Ireland Troubles Bill is expected to be discussed in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

The bill seeks to deal with the unresolved legacy of the decades-long violent conflict.

The bill was first introduced to Parliament last year following agreement on a joint framework with the Irish government.

On Monday it was announced that the Attorney General must provide consent for any serious prosecutions related to the Troubles under changes to the planned legislation.

It is among a series of amendments the government has tabled for the legislation.

A carry-over extension of the bill is happening on Tuesday and will be followed by a small debate.

It will then be voted on by MPs next week and if passed, it will move to the House of Lords for further consideration by peers.

The Labour government has faced criticism over delays in passing the bill as well as questions over some of its contents.

It seeks to replace the previous Conservative government's contentious 2023 Legacy Act, which introduced a ban on inquests and civil actions related to Troubles-era incidents.

The act's most controversial element - offering immunity from prosecution to suspects who cooperated with an information recovery body - was disapplied after being found by the courts to be unlawful.

Labour's bill involves a Legacy Commission to investigate Troubles-related killings, a separate information recovery body, and a dedicated legacy unit within An Garda Síochána (Irish police).

The Northern Ireland Veterans' Commissioner David Johnstone said it is "too early to say in detail" about whether he is pleased about the amendments.

"We are going to take our time, we need to take some legal input, we need to consult with veterans. We are not going to have a knee jerk reaction, I don't think anyone's going to be dancing in the streets over the amendments," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"It does appear that the secretary of state and the Ministry of Defence have listened to some of the concerns and there does seem to be some amendments that are welcomed."

He added that the bill needs to be amendment so it is "fair and balanced" but he added that that is "unlikely".

On Monday Sinn Féin MP John Finucane denounced the amendments as a "veterans' charter".

He said they "risk preferential treatment, providing additional protections for former members of the British military while placing further obstacles in the path of effective investigations".

Johnstone said he was "not worried about the criticism of Sinn Féin" when it comes to the bill.

"While on the surface there does seem to be some improvements to protections, things like the Attorney General being involved to make a final decision on prosecutions, on the surface seems welcome but let's see the actual wording in terms of legal opinion because it is a minefield."

Johnstone said the role the Attorney General will play has had a "mixed reaction" as it is a political appointment and will not have veterans "excited".

However he said some veterans will see it as "positive" as decisions on prosecutions will involve officials in Westminster, rather than in Northern Ireland.

Speaking on Good Morning Ulster, Sinn Féin MLA Deirdre Hargey said that legacy needs to be addressed.

"We do have families where that trauma, that pain is being passed onto the next generation because they don't have the answers, they haven't been able to seek justice."

But, she said the amendments will further knock the confidence of victims and survivors.

"Instead of bringing forward measures that would enhance confidence of victims, they have actually risked undermining investigations and importantly the equal application of the law," she said.

Hargey said the amendments insert political interference into the process, adding that the British government controlling this would be "extremely concerning considering their key role in the conflict".

DUP leader Gavin Robinson expressed his concerns that the government had published these amendments before the parliamentary process concludes on Tuesday.

"140 amendments have been published this morning and they have be considered, understood, some coherency brought to them. And then an assessment made as to whether they actually do protect innocent victims and assist veterans," he said.

"I think it's unfair for veterans and for innocent victims across NI to even comprehend how each amendment interacts with the legislation."

He said he thinks the government would have been better to publish "a comprehensive and a concise and a coherent piece of legislation so people could understand the interaction between the changes they're proposing and the bill before us today".

Robinson did say he believes it is good that Labour "will legislate to recognise that the actions of soldiers are not equivalent to the actions of terrorists who went out to destroy our country".

However, he said that "there are still issues to be ironed out" including being "deeply concerned" that "this government has no intention of extending the dates of the Legacy Commission to include Omagh".

He said "this legislation suggests that it wasn't a Troubles event and therefore we won't get the answers that the families in Omagh so desperately need."

Emmett McConomy, whose 11-year-old brother Stephen was shot dead by a soldier in Londonderry in 1982, said the planned changes feel like a "backwards step".

"This appears to be appeasement to the veterans. And with this legislation, where does the victim sit within this? What protections have we got?," he told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

The proposed role of the Attorney General, he added, is a "step too far".

"We have an Attorney General appointed by the British government possibly then looking at cases where the British Army has killed or murdered civilians here in Ireland.

"I don't hold much hope for that. It seems very much that they're checking their own homework," he said.

The process would be more transparent, McConomy added, if there "was someone independent from Britain within that set-up as well".

He said his family, like many others, had campaigned for the truth for years and now needed "an honest broker".

"And we need the British government to step up to the plate and stop hiding behind the veterans," McConomy said.

• The legislation will make clear the Commission and coroners "must not regard the lawful conduct of members of the Armed Forces as equivalent to the actions of paramilitaries responsible for acts of terrorism"
• The Attorney General will be required to consent to all "serious" Troubles-related prosecutions
• Measures to prevent "cold-calling" of veterans and extending provisions for remote attendance as part of the Commission's work
• Before any witness can be approached, the Commission should consider if "compelling new evidence exists, or the likelihood of a witness being able to provide new information"
• The Commission must consider the "context and command orders" in which military veterans were operating
• Former paramilitaries barred from being appointed to the Victims and Survivors Advisory Group, and a requirement for at least one veteran or veterans' representative to be on the panel
• A statutory review of the measures for veterans to ensure they "deliver as intended"