Former Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has insisted he will take legal action against the government over its changes to the Legacy Act. He’s fuming over new changes to the NI Troubles Bill that block him and 500 other IRA suspects from suing the taxpayer for compensation – a U-turn forced on Labour by the Tories. Here we go…
In a Sinn Féin press release, Adams said:
“I have instructed my legal team that it is my intention to pursue legal action against Keir Starmer’s decision to retrospectively change a law which a Conservative government broke over 50 years ago. In January Keir Starmer made it clear that he would look at ‘every conceivable way’ to ensure that I and others impacted by this did not receive compensation. Yesterday the British government produced legislation which upholds the quashing of the convictions but denies compensation. This is clearly discriminatory. Once again the British state changes the rules to protect its security personnel while denying others equality of treatment.”
Shadow Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois tells Guido:
“The Government’s Northern Ireland Legacy strategy is rapidly unravelling, within 48 hours of being announced. After months of intense opposition from the Conservatives, they finally dropped their bonkers proposals to help Gerry Adams sue the Government – and now he’s suing them anyway! His case would ultimately be resisted by the Attorney General, Lord Hermer, who prior to the election was, er,… Gerry Adams’s personal lawyer, in trying to sue the Government!”
Couldn’t make it up…
Read his statement in full below:
“I have instructed my legal team that it is my intention to pursue legal action against Keir Starmer’s decision to retrospectively change a law which a Conservative government broke over 50 years ago. At the same time the British are introducing new legislation to protect British soldiers and RUC officers from facing the legal consequences of their criminal actions.”
“In 2020 the British Supreme Court determined that I was wrongfully interned for a period in the 1970s. The decision by the Court was explicit. Interim Custody Orders not authorised and approved by the Secretary of State were illegal. It is believed that upwards of 400 other internees are similarly affected.
“The British government, which knew it was in the wrong at that time, knowingly broke its own law.
“In January Keir Starmer made it clear that he would look at ‘every conceivable way’ to ensure that I and others impacted by this did not receive compensation.
“Yesterday the British government produced legislation which upholds the quashing of the convictions but denies compensation. This is clearly discriminatory. Once again the British state changes the rules to protect its security personnel while denying others equality of treatment.
“That an Irish government would collude in this is disgraceful.
“The British military was involved in the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. A Committee of the Oireachtas on Justice concluded in 2005 that: ‘We are dealing with acts of international terrorism that were colluded in by the British security forces’.
“The Irish government has now signed up to new laws that will protect those British soldiers involved in these and other attacks in the South and in the North.
“The British want to close the door on their past actions. Like many others I will be speaking to my legal team in the next few days to examine what options here and within Europe are open to us.”
