Back down on Troubles Bill, Sir Keir told

LABOUR was warned last night that its plan to repeal draft laws offering immunity from prosecution for Troubles crimes in Northern Ireland would be a ‘retrograde step’.

The legislation would exempt from prosecution those accused of Troubles offences as long as they cooperate with a new truth recovery body.

It would also halt future civil cases and inquests linked to killings during the conflict.

But speaking in Belfast yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer claimed the legislation was ‘wrong in principle’ and has ‘no support’ from victims or Northern Ireland’s political parties.

The proposed law has been tabled amid calls from backbench Tory MPs for an end to fresh prosecutions. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris HeatonHarris branded Sir Keir’s call to repeal the Bill as ‘a retrograde step that would prolong the wait for answers and accountability that many families have been after for decades’.