The British government’s proposed legacy Bill “will finally provide answers” for many victims, survivors and families bereaved during the Troubles in the North, Chris Heaton-Harris has said.
As the controversial legislation is set to return to the lower house of the UK parliament, the Northern Ireland Secretary also said the British government cannot accept an amendment from peers which removed a clause offering conditional immunity from prosecution.
MPs are set to vote later in the latest stage of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.
The House of Lords recently removed a contentious element of the proposed legislation which would have offered immunity from prosecution to those who committed crimes during the Troubles if they co-operated with a truth-recovery body.
The legislation would also stop new inquests and civil cases taking place.
It would also see the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) taking over hundreds of unresolved Troubles cases.
Victims’ groups, the main Stormont political parties and the Irish Government have all expressed their opposition to the Bill.
In an article for the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Heaton-Harris said the legislation is vital for those who “want answers and an end to protracted processes that deliver outcomes for very few”.
“It’s well over 50 years since the Troubles began and 25 years since the people of Northern Ireland voted for peace through the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement,” he said.
“That’s decades where very many families, victims and survivors have been left without justice or information.
“This Bill will finally provide answers.”
Referring to changes made to the Bill by peers, Mr Heaton-Harris said: “We cannot agree to an amendment which would altogether remove the conditional immunity clauses from the Bill.
“This government believes that the conditional immunity provisions will be key in helping to generate the greatest volume of information, in the quickest possible time, to pass on to families and victims who have been waiting for so long.
“I know that this approach is challenging for many, but we must address the legacy of the past in a different way if we are to achieve better outcomes for many who have waited for decades.”
He added: “As a government it is our responsibility to establish the best practical way to deliver better outcomes for many more people than the current system does.
“The challenge before us is immensely difficult, but it is also clear.
“To provide greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families of the Troubles, we must do things differently.”
Northern Ireland veterans commissioner Danny Kinahan said he is giving a guarded welcome to the legislation because of the “lopsided” number of prosecutions against former members of the armed forces.
He told the BBC: “One of the reasons that this Bill is coming forward, other than the need for reconciliation and trying to find a way to help everyone through legacy, is because it is so lopsided at the moment – we have let off most of the terrorists, you have had hundreds let out through the Good Friday Agreement, 365 royal pardons and letters of comfort, and many more reasons that make it really lopsided.”
“I give it a guarded welcome because most veterans – and I have really made it my task to get out, talk to veterans and find out what they want – 90% of veterans don’t like what we have got at the minute, they want something different, and this offers something different.”
But victims campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son was murdered by loyalists during the Troubles, said the vote in parliament will establish whether the British government “believes in truth and justice”.
He said: “The Irish Government, US government and the EU need to step up and not only condemn this shameful destruction of justice but take action against it.
“Be it through the courts in Strasbourg or a refusal of any trade deal, it’s clear just words are not enough.
“The families and victims not only deserve justice – they are entitled to it under British and international law.”
