{"id":23343,"date":"2021-10-03T14:14:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-03T18:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23343"},"modified":"2021-10-04T09:16:39","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T13:16:39","slug":"lewis-uk-is-committed-to-bringing-amnesty-laws-forward-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23343","title":{"rendered":"Lewis: UK Is Committed To Bringing Amnesty Laws Forward This Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Stormont (PA Wire\/PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The UK government is committed to delivering on its controversial ‘amnesty’ proposals to tackle legacy issues in Northern Ireland, its Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, Brandon Lewis said that the UK government still intended to legislate this year on plans for a statute of limitations which would end all prosecutions for Troubles incidents up to April 1998 \u2013 and would apply to military veterans as well as ex-paramilitaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he indicated that he was also willing to listen to the widespread concerns raised about the plans from Northern Irish political parties and victims\u2019 groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Lewis told the BBC\u2019s Sunday Politics program: \u201cWe are committed to legislating this autumn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were very clear when we published the command paper, as I said at the time, we were talking to not just the political parties but civic society, victims\u2019 groups, other interested parties, including the Irish Government, around ideas of how we take the next big bold step to move things forward for Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that the UK government had spent the summer engaging with all \u201cinterested parties\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will be coming to some conclusions about how we respond to that, how we take on board what people have said before we legislate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Lewis also claimed that no-one else had put forward any alternatives for dealing with legacy issues in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cI\u2019m determined that families who want information about what happened get that in a better way that gives them knowledge and information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey shouldn\u2019t have to wait 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if the UK government\u2019s primary concern was protecting former soldiers from prosecution, Mr Lewis said: \u201cWe said we would deliver on that for those who served and let\u2019s remember people were serving to protect their communities and people\u2019s lives and did so with great honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were some exceptions,\u201d he said, referencing the Ballymurphy massacre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he said that the UK government\u2019s proposals would still help deliver \u201ctruth\u201d about events during the Troubles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinn F\u00e9in Finance Minister Conor Murphy, speaking on the same program, said he was not \u201coptimistic\u201d that the UK government would change its approach to legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called Mr Lewis\u2019s comments \u201ccompletely disingenuous\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThis is all about protecting their own state forces and those they used as proxies to deliver their war in Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is about closing down access to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

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