Northern Ireland: Legacy of the Troubles

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend both for his question and for his generous mentoring of me since we came into government. I am in awe of the work he did when he was Secretary of State and I am very grateful for how generous he has been with his time. He knows better than I quite how difficult and challenging it can be to secure consensus on matters pertaining to Northern Ireland—there is nothing more emotive than the issues we are discussing. But we will have proper engagement with all political parties to try to build a way forward. We are very clear that one reason why the current legacy Act has failed to receive cross-community support—and failed to secure the trust of communities in Northern Ireland and of the victims and survivors—is that none of the political parties was in agreement. Although these conversations will be very challenging, I look forward to working with noble Lords across this House to try to build a level of consensus, as the Secretary of State promised in the other place yesterday.

[Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (UUP)]

My Lords, some things in life are very difficult to get a conclusion to. Some things are even difficult to get agreement on, and legacy in Northern Ireland is certainly one of them. If the noble Baroness listened to Radio Ulster this morning, she will know that, although she has brought forward some new proposals—which I welcome, and the Government have—they are just a little less undesirable than the ones that were there before. That is not coming from this House, because I hear much more welcome here—but, if noble Lords listened to the radio this morning, they would know that it is much different.

I am hugely frustrated, particularly given that the Government were only just in place when they announced a public inquiry into the Pat Finucane murder, when we have hundreds and thousands of innocent victims in Northern Ireland without that opportunity. I declare an interest: I served in the security forces in Northern Ireland for 18 years and saw some of those people murdered. I visited and continue to visit their families. They say to me—for example, the victims of the Enniskillen bomb—“Where is the public inquiry? Where is the equality for me?” There is none. Until the noble Baroness and her Government get some equality into dealing with the legacy and the victims in Northern Ireland, there will never be agreement or support for that process.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I will take this opportunity to thank the noble Lord for his service. I can only imagine the things he saw when he served. The support that he and all colleagues in Northern Ireland, as dedicated public servants, have provided to families who were touched by the Troubles, as many of them have been, shows a level of public service that very few of the rest of us have ever had to experience. It puts them in a class above and we are grateful for everything that they have done to support people.

On what was on the radio this morning, it will not surprise noble Lords to hear that I have been taking a particular interest in the media of Northern Ireland for a while—but definitely in the last 24 hours, to see the response. As was said, everything to do with legacy is so emotive that it becomes very challenging. Nothing is more complex than next steps, but our response is to make sure that we engage as broadly as possible with all members of the community.

On the Finucane public inquiry, delivering a public inquiry was a solemn commitment made by the last Labour Government, which is why we have fulfilled our commitment. We did that post the Good Friday agreement, and it does not suggest that other arrangements cannot and will not provide a level of closure and information for noble Lords. That is why we want to strengthen ICRIR for the families.