Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has pledged to give grieving families answers about Troubles-related killings through new legacy legislation. The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will establish a reformed commission with enhanced powers and a separate information recovery body, replacing the previous government's failed approach.
The move comes as the Home Office revealed that at least 77 people in England whose deaths during the Troubles remain unsolved, with almost half being members of the armed forces. The Police Service of Northern Ireland had shut down more than 1,000 investigations under the previous Conservative government's Legacy Act, including 225 into deaths of soldiers and veterans.
Speaking at second reading, Benn addressed families and veterans watching from Parliament's galleries: "We know that this unfinished business falls to us, all of us, because time is running out."
Failed immunity scheme scrapped
The government is repealing an immunity scheme from the 2023 Legacy Act, which courts had ruled unlawful. Benn said: "We know that one of the principal reasons for that lack of support was the Act's attempt to offer immunity from prosecution, including to terrorists who had committed the most appalling murders."
He emphasized: "There is no moral equivalence whatsoever between those members of our armed forces who acted lawfully in carrying out their duties and paramilitaries who were responsible for barbaric acts of terrorism."
The new Legacy Commission will be reformed with enhanced investigative powers. A statutory advisory group will ensure victims and survivors, including those from a service background, are heard. Benn assured that "anyone who was previously involved in paramilitary activity will not be appointed to the victims and survivors group".
Decades of unsolved attacks
The unsolved cases include the 1974 IRA bombing of a coach on the M62 carrying off-duty British Army personnel and their families, which killed 12 people and injured 38. The assassinations of MPs Airey Neave in 1979 and Ian Gow in 1990, both in car bombings, remain open. The 1993 IRA bombing in Warrington killed two children, Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball, and injured 56.
The IRA bombings in Guildford in 1974, Birmingham in 1974 and Manchester in 1996 also remain unsolved.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis, a former Parachute Regiment member who served in Northern Ireland, said: "The last government's Legacy Act shut down police investigations and proposed immunity for terrorists. This left many families feeling they had nowhere to go to continue their search for justice, or simply for answers about what happened to their loved ones."
The Bill, agreed as part of a framework with the Irish Government, is expected to face proposed amendments from Northern Ireland MPs when it reaches committee stage.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
