Government on ‘dangerous path’ over Legacy Bill changes, says John Finucane

The UK Government is taking a “dangerous path” with amendments to the Legacy Bill, John Finucane has said.

The Sinn Fein MP for North Belfast said he has received “no assurances” on changes to the framework which risks becoming “veterans’ legislation”.

On entering government in 2024, Labour pledged to repeal and replace the previous Conservative government’s Legacy Act which ended police investigations into Troubles-related killings and established a new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

Labour’s Bill, agreed as part of a joint framework with the Irish Government, will put in place a reformed Legacy Commission with enhanced powers.

Last week, the Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn pushed back the Government’s Troubles Bill, saying it will return to Parliament with “substantial amendments” including “additional protections and reassurances” for veterans.

Mr Finucane said he was “very concerned” about the updates to the long-awaited legislation.

He told the Press Association at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in Belfast: “You would be forgiven for forgetting that this is actually a victims’ legislation, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this is actually veterans’ legislation.

“It was a very partial, partisan statement by the British government to further embolden and protect a body of people that were actually victim-makers in our conflict here.

“And I think to elevate one section of people above another is very dangerous and, precedent has shown us, not the wisest way to go about dealing with legacy.

“There has to be a process put in place that can deliver for everybody and to elevate one section of people above another is a very dangerous path.”

He added: “There are a lot of victims of state violence, state violence can take the form of people in a uniform or people not necessarily in a uniform, and they are being asked to entrust in a process where the very British government that is legislating for this is going out of their way, bending over backwards, to very cynically protect veterans as a result of their own self interest.”

Mr Finucane said he had personally spoken with the Northern Ireland Secretary to ask for further clarity on what the new measures will entail.

“We’ll wait and see what exactly is in the detail, but certainly as a direction of travel this is something that has caused concern, not just to us politically, but certainly to a lot of people who we represent,” he said.

He added: “There’s nothing that the Secretary of State has said that would provide me with any assurance having listened to what he has said publicly this week.”

A public inquiry is due to get under way into the murder of Mr Finucane’s father, Pat Finucane, and he reiterated his party’s call for a full public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown.

Mr Brown, the then chairman of Wolfe Tones GAA Club in the Co Londonderry town of Bellaghy, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.

His widow Bridie Brown, who has led a decades-long campaign for answers about her husband’s murder – which an excess of 25 people have been linked to, including several state agents – was in attendance at the first day of the Ard Fheis.

“I can’t think of another family who have had the endorsement of five High Court judges and a PSNI Chief Constable in calling for a public inquiry,” Mr Finucane said.

“I think it’s shameful that a woman who’s nearly 90 is being brought to the Supreme Court in London over what is essentially an academic legal point.

“I think the British government have the power to grant a public inquiry, they have the ability to do that efficiently and effectively, and they are refusing to do so.

“And that feeds into the wider confidence in the legacy context for lots of families who maybe are not the Brown family, but look to the Brown family as inspiration, look to the Brown family and see ‘if that’s how they’re being treated, how would we be treated’.”