DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the Government has lost the confidence of victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles as well as veterans.
The East Belfast MP was speaking at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast on Monday before a vote on the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill in the House of Commons later.
The Bill was designed to repeal and replace the controversial Legacy Act introduced by the previous Conservative government, ending the immunity scheme brought in under the law, which was ruled unlawful in the courts.
Mr Robinson also accused the Government of “failing” to upend the Legacy Act,
“This Government has had two years to honour their commitment to repeal and replace the Legacy Act, and they have summarily failed,” he told reporters.
“They have failed victims, they have failed veterans and all they’re offering now is to pick up their broken Bill in a number of months time so that Parliament can consider shedloads of government amendments to their own Bill.
“The truth is they have lost the confidence of victims in Northern Ireland through this process, they have lost the confidence of veterans throughout the United Kingdom during this process.”
Mr Robinson added: “The best thing for the Labour Government to have done would have been to withdraw this Bill, to consider not only their own amendments but those tabled by myself, our party and colleagues from Northern Ireland who are represented in the House of Commons, consider those amendments, and bring forward a Troubles Bill that could command the confidence of not only Westminster, but communities most deeply impacted here in Northern Ireland.”
