MPs vote against House of Lords amendments to controversial Legacy Bill

The son of an RUC officer murdered by the IRA has told UTV that legacy legislation is a betrayal to him and other victims.

Clive Eagleson's father was shot dead 40 years ago and has spoken out for the first time as the government faced a key commons vote on its plan to deal with the troubles.

It comes as The UK Government overturned attempts to remove the conditional immunity provision from the legislation designed to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles. The House of Lords had voted to strip out the contentious element which aims to offer immunity from prosecution to those who committed crimes during the Troubles if they co-operate with a new truth-recovery body.

But MPs voted 292 to 200, majority 92, to disagree with this change and to restore the measures to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.

The legislation will now return to the House of Lords for further consideration, with the Government hoping it becomes law before the start of the summer recess on Thursday.

As MPs voted on the amendment to the bill Clive Eagleson urged the government to rethink it's approach completely.

Talking about his father he said: "He stood up to wear his uniform and he paid the ultimate price.

"For me a government I believe is the custodian of law and order in this country. To whitewash that away, to say to us who is left with it. It didn't really matter.

"My fathers service didn't matter, all those thousands of people killed, doesn't matter and we are going to draw a line under the sand and we are going to give terrorists a free pass for the rest of their life.

"For me that is a betrayal."

Emmett McConomy whose brother was killed by the Army says the perpetrators of violence are the only ones benefitting: "It has been traumatising for families to have to re-live over and over again and have our hopes dashed of any form of justice being achieved through the courts here.

"They are selling a false truth and again victims are nowhere to be seen within this process.

"Nowhere in the legislation is the rights of the victims protected and it appears to me and it appears to a lot of victims that the only people who will benefit from this are the perpetrators of violence."

UTV Political Editor Tracey Magee spoke to the programme earlier.

Speaking in the Commons during the debate the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the legislation contains “finely balanced political and moral choices that are uncomfortable for many”. He told MPs: “But we should be honest about what we can realistically deliver for the people in Northern Ireland in circumstances where the prospects of achieving justice in the traditional sense are so vanishingly small. “This Bill seeks to deliver an approach that focuses on what can be practically achieved to deliver better outcomes for all those who suffered, including those who served, and aims to help society to look forward together to a more shared future.” Mr Heaton-Harris also said: “Conditional immunity is a crucial aspect of the information recovery process and this Government believes it is the best mechanism by which we can 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.”

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “We do need change. We need a system that can deliver. But surely it’s the victims that should have the choice, it surely should be down to the families to choose if they want to pursue justice or information. “And when we deny them that route, when we take away the access to justice, in my opinion we actually diminish the prospect of achieving the second objective of this Bill, which is reconciliation.” DUP MP Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) said: “The ability to offer immunity to terrorists, the ability to ensure they never face justice for their crimes, the subsequent ability to then talk openly and freely about their exploits, as those who have already been convicted do, it is not as if we need a crystal ball to guess that people who are unencumbered by the criminal justice system will have the freedom not only to share their experience but to torment their victims and their loved ones further.” The DUP’s Jim Shannon (Strangford) could not hold back his tears while advocating for justice on behalf of his cousin Kenneth Smyth, who lost his life at the hands of the IRA.

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