A bill that would let murderers and torturers off the hook for crimes committed during the Troubles has united Northern Ireland’s political parties in opposition. Now Keir Starmer has increased the pressure on Downing Street by promising that a future Labour government would repeal any such amnesty if it became law.
The UK government’s Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill tears up peace process agreements to investigate historic crimes. It will close down existing justice mechanisms, which are increasingly delivering uncomfortable truths about the past.
Investigations into incidents up until April 1988, encompassing crimes committed by both paramilitary groups and British soldiers, will be debarred and replaced with time-limited desktop “reviews”. A new commission, operating under a considerable degree of ministerial control, would examine a restricted number of cases of such crimes.
