Troubles: Political reaction to PM's plan to end prosecutions

Brandon Lewis faced questions from MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday

There has been widespread political reaction to the government's confirmation that it intends to bring forward legislation to ban all prosecutions related to the Troubles.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the proposals to address the legacy of the past will allow NI to "draw a line under the Troubles".

The NI Secretary told Parliament it was a decision not taken lightly.

BBC News NI looks at political representatives' reaction to the news.

• Plan to end all NI Troubles prosecutions confirmed

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the proposal was an "effective amnesty for Troubles-related crimes" and was "totally unacceptable".

"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," he said in a statement.

He said justice had been "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," he said.

"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."

Sinn Féin

Deputy First Minister and Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill said the government has "yet again shown a blatant disregard" for victims by intending to impose a statute of limitations.

She questioned why the government was moving in this direction when all the main Stormont parties and victims' groups were opposing the move.

"There is no room for an amnesty in terms of dealing with the past," she said.

She said the government's intention of the proposals was to "cover up" its role during the Troubles.

She added that there needed to be a meeting of Stormont party leaders now with the two governments.

"I look towards the Irish government, they need to hold the British government to account," she said.

"We are certainly not going to take this lying down."

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)

Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, party Leader Colum Eastwood raised the 1990 case of Patsy Gillespie and asked would the NI secretary come with him to meet his widow and explain "why he wants to protect his killers from prosecution and investigation".

Brandon Lewis, in turn, said he will meet any victim and accused SDLP leader of using "emotive comments for soundbites".

Later, Mr Eastwood said the government's approach was a "serious act of bad faith that will breach obligations undertaken in successive all-party agreements and the international treaty signed at Stormont House."

"You cannot draw a line in the sand on injustice."

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)

"Wednesday's announcement reinforces the injustice which has already been dealt to victims," said UUP leader Doug Beattie.

"It's the wrong path and will tread on the emotions of innocent victims and their families. Nobody has the right to deny them the hope that someday, finally, they might see justice being done.

"The Ulster Unionist Party has been consistent and unequivocal in its opposition to any proposals for an amnesty.

"We warned about this when some were championing a statute of limitations despite the inevitable conclusion that it would lead to an amnesty for terrorists."

The Alliance Party

Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry MP said the proposals were "an assault on the rule of law and human rights".

The North Down MP said it was an "insult to victims from all backgrounds".

"The UK government has unilaterally abandoned the Stormont House Agreement, something agreed by two governments and most local parties," he said.

"This approach is framed solely around the perceived need to address what is a false narrative of vexatious investigations of Army veterans."

He said if the legislation was to go ahead without agreement from victims it would not be in line with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The taoiseach (Irish prime minister)

The British government's proposals are "wrong for many, many reasons," said Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

"The introduction of what amounts to a general amnesty for all security personnel, and all paramilitaries, for murders and other crimes, up until the Good Friday Agreement is not the right way to go," he told the Dáil (Irish parliament).

"I don't believe in a general amnesty for those who committed murder, whether they were state actors, or whether they were involved in terrorist or illegal organisations."

Mr Martin added: "The British government may be setting out its position. But our position as an Irish government, shared with all of the political parties in the north and all of the victim groups, remain consistent with that of Stormont House."

The Irish foreign minister

"We do not believe the UK proposals published today can be the basis for dealing with legacy cases, or would be supported by the parties or people in Northern Ireland," said the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney.

In a statement, he added that "there will be a strong onus on the UK government in the engagement process to explain how their proposals could fully comply with their ECHR and other legal and international human rights obligations, or properly meet the needs of victims and their families".

Mr Coveney said the Irish government had "agreed to have a process of intensive engagement" with the British government and Northern Ireland's political parties "to find a collective way forward on legacy issues and that should be the focus now".

The Labour Party

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said a blanket amnesty was "plain wrong" and not supported by victims.

He said: "Last Thursday I spoke to victims at the Wave Trauma Centre. They haven't even been properly consulted on this proposal.

"If things are to move forward in Northern Ireland, any discussion has to start with the victims."

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Louise Haigh, said it was "deeply regrettable" that the government's approach on legacy has put victims' trust in the government at "rock-bottom".

She accused Mr Johnson's the government of having taken a "sledgehammer" to promises it made to victims last year when it pledged in New Decade New Approach to implement Stormont House Agreement plans on legacy.

The Conservative Party

Speaking in the House of Commons, the chairman of the Northern Ireland Select Committee, Simon Hoare MP, asked if there is a "George Mitchell-like figure in the wings" who the government could deploy to act as an "honest broker" in taking forward the proposals to tackle legacy issues.