Northern Ireland Troubles

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Monday 20th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I will start with the final point: we are changing the law, and that is what we are spending a lot of time on. This includes the re-establishment of the Carltona principle, to ensure that the principle that several Members of your Lordships’ House used when they were Northern Ireland Ministers and believed that they were acting in good faith exists in law and is retrospectively applied.

I thank the noble Lord, and everyone who served, for his service. We sent many young men to Northern Ireland. Many did extraordinary things to keep us safe and I thank them for doing their duty. I make it clear that veterans’ families, including the families of the veterans he named, need answers too. I hope they will seek to go to the legacy commission to make sure that they get answers. It is why we want to make sure that veterans’ voices and those of the victims’ families are heard and are at the centre of the commission.

[Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (UUP)]

My Lords, the Belfast agreement has been held up in high esteem here. But why are the Irish Government involved in this part of the scheme? The Irish Government were not involved in strand one of the Belfast agreement, so why do we need agreement from them now to take this forward? It is nonsensical. They have done nothing down the years to support the people of Northern Ireland against terrorism—in fact, on some occasions they have facilitated terrorism in Northern Ireland, which is an absolute shame. I quote the Minister’s own words: “We are better than the terrorists”. It does not appear that way, if there are to be new inquests into the eight terrorists of Loughgall who tried to murder and maim everybody in the station there. It is absolutely terrible and ridiculous. We are not starting off from the same basis at all. There is not fair treatment, simply because security forces hold all the information, terrorists do not. Is this a departure from the Belfast agreement? Has she set the Belfast agreement aside, in the interests of trying to get some deal with the Irish Government?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord served with distinction for many years. I am grateful for the time he gives me and for the work that he has done in Northern Ireland to deliver peace.

As someone who was born in 1979, for me, the Belfast/Good Friday agreement was something I celebrated and welcomed and consider one of the most successful achievements of the last Labour Government. The reality is that the Republic of Ireland is a co-guarantor of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. That is one of the reasons why it is so incredibly important that we are working with it. This is an unprecedented level of commitment from the Irish Government about the Troubles and I am truly grateful that they have moved forward. They have been clear that they will facilitate the fullest possible co-operation of the relevant authorities with the commission. They are establishing a dedicated unit to deal with Troubles-related cases, acting as a single point of contact for families within the Irish system. They will make a financial contribution of €25 million over three years to resource legacy mechanisms. Consistent with the Stormont House agreement—which I know the noble Lord’s party was not supportive of but which shows that the Irish Government have been party to this for many years—the two Governments will establish the independent commission on information retrieval to make sure that people get the evidence when they need it.

I know that there are concerns, and that the proof will be in the pudding, but working with the Irish to deliver answers for the people of Northern Ireland is incredibly important. As I have said consistently throughout, this is about answers for the people who are still waiting for information about what happened to their families. It is they who are front and centre in all of our efforts.