Brandon Lewis: Moral, legal and ethical duty to provide Troubles pension scheme

Secretary of State Brandon Lewis was answering queries at Northern Ireland Question Time Credit: PA

There is a "moral as well as a legal and an ethical duty" to ensure people are able to access funding for the payment scheme for victims of the Troubles, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis has warned.

He continued: "I know the work is ongoing to do that, the Department of Justice, the minister there, is passionate and determined about that, as is the First Minister.

"One of the frustrations that I've had in 2020, I have to say, was the fact that it took a court case to get the Deputy First Minister to even designate a department, that simply wasn't good enough and the Department of Finance now need to ensure that they do not play games with victims and their pensions and their payments, and ensure that that money is made available to the department of justice to get on to deliver this programme."

Mr Lewis' comments came as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Louise Haigh warned "we simply cannot wash our hands of our responsibility".

Shadow Secretary of State Louise Haigh says Troubles victims ''have been badly treated in the last year."

The Labour MP said: "Victims of the Troubles have been badly treated in the last year in particular and are fast losing confidence in whether we will all deliver on the promises that we made to them in this House.

"The Troubles pension was legislated for in Westminster, it applies to victims across the UK and beyond, and we simply cannot wash our hands of our responsibility."

She continued: "So, will the secretary of state urgently meet with the relevant ministers in the executive to discuss meeting the upfront costs of the scheme, which he must accept are not reasonable to be funded out of the block grant, and ensure that the pension too many have waited decades for will finally be delivered?"

Responding to Ms Haigh, Mr Lewis said: "The Minister for Justice who is taking this work programme forward ... I've got to say did a very good piece of work.

"She is still in the last conversation I had with her, on target to have the administrative structure in place, I think her intention is by the spring, so late March in order to allow victims to be able to apply for this scheme."

He added: "I will continue to give her my full support in doing that."