“Which Minister will respond to that debate, so that we can ask them why the Government’s current remedial order is drafted to help the likes of Gerry Adams sue the British taxpayer while throwing our veterans to the wolves?”
Earlier this year, a Northern Irish High Court ruled the act was incompatible with human rights laws, which opened the Government up to a legal challenge from people such as Gerry Adams who were interned without trial during the Troubles.
Mr Adams, who has consistently denied being a member of the IRA, was one of hundreds detained during the Troubles suspected of involvement in terrorism amid sectarian violence.
Following the announcement, the Prime Minister vowed to stop Adams and others receiving huge sums of taxpayers’ money, without specifying how he intended to do so.
A Conservative source at the time told the Daily Express: “They can’t say how they will do it because they know that they can’t. If they amend the act, he will get a payout and veterans will get two fingers up to them.”
It has since been reported by the Telegraph that the Prime Minister has sanctioned a legal change that aims to reinstate the Tory Government’s block on the former Sinn Féin leader’s compensation without breaching human rights laws.
A government source said: “Both the Prime Minister and Government have been very clear that we are looking at every conceivable way to lawfully address this issue.
“What we are effectively doing is bringing back what the previous Government did but in a lawful way in primary legislation.”
In response, Francois told the Daily Express: “We have campaigned, alongside the Express, against Two Tier Justice which pursues our Veterans, but helps Gerry Adams potentially sue the taxpayer.
“This latest report, which suggests the Government is now hesitating over helping Adams, is not yet confirmed.
“But we have Northern Ireland Questions on Wednesday in the House of Commons, so perhaps we can obtain clarity then, about whether their position has really changed or not.”
