Northern Ireland unrest amnesty: anger as Brandon Lewis tells critics to find a better plan

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A campaign group for victims has reacted with fury after Secretary of State Brandon Lewis challenged the people of Northern Ireland to find a better alternative to his legacy of the Troubles proposals.

r Lewis intends to introduce legislation to create a statute of limitations project that would end all prosecution of incidents until April 1998 and apply to military veterans as well as ex-paramilitaries.

The proposals, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson said would allow Northern Ireland to “end the unrest”, would also end all related investigations and civil actions.

Victim groups and politicians in Northern Ireland have criticized the plans.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, the Secretary of State said he recognized his proposals had faced a wall of criticism, but challenged critics to find something better, describing his plan as the only way sustainable to follow.

What we have proposed is not perfect. So I would like to urge in the strongest terms possible all interested parties, if they have a better way of dealing with the legacy issues from Northern Ireland, to let us know. If there is a better way somewhere, one way or another, we can all work together to make it happen. Because what we all agree on as well is Northern Ireland’s desire to face its brighter future, Lewis wrote.

But victim activist Kenny Donaldson of Innocent Victims United said: For a quarter of a century the political system has subverted the criminal justice system; early releases of prisoners, fleeing letters of assurance and royal prerogatives of mercy are just a few of the overt and covert ways in which this has been done.

The state is now proposing to extinguish the most fundamental principle of any democratic society; the right to justice.

He called on the Secretary of State to work with his victims’ groups and others to develop a victim-centered solution to the problems inherited from the unrest.

We have presented an alternative proposal to the Secretary of State and we will refine that proposal and engage with him, his office, local and national political parties and the Irish government who need to cease the spectator role and actively engage with the process. , in order to face their own actions and inactions during the years of the terrorist campaign.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said his party would offer alternative ideas to the government.

The Ulster Unionist Party has always called for the legacy investigation arm of the PSNI to be properly funded and resourced to enable it to investigate all historical and legacy crimes.

“This would be standard practice in the rest of the UK and even in the Republic, and this is what we have suggested to do in Northern Ireland.

We will submit a document to the Secretary of State to inform the debate and set out our ideas.

“We will also continue to challenge the Irish government to put in writing what it proposes to do with regard to the inheritance inquiries.

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