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SPEAKING IN THE House of Commons yesterday, British prime minister Keir Starmer vowed to block former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams from claiming compensation for being interned during the Troubles.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was “shameful” that the UK government “may write a cheque to compensate Gerry Adams”.
Starmer responded that the Troubles Legacy Act, which was passed by the Tory government, was “unfit” and “unlawful”.
He added that his Labour government “will put in place a better framework” and that work is ongoing on a “draft remedial order and replacement legislation”.
“And we will look at every conceivable way to prevent these types of cases from claiming damages—it is important that I say that on the record,” said Starmer on the prospect of Adams benefitting.
But the prospect of Adams receiving compensation has led to a swift backlash in the British press, with The Daily Telegraph claiming that “Starmer’s revolting betrayal will never be forgotten”.
A UK Supreme Court decision in 2020 paved the way for Adams to receive compensation after it quashed his convictions over two attempted prison break-outs.
These break-outs happened after he was interned without trial in 1973 at Long Kesh internment camp, also known as Maze Prison, near Lisburn.
The Supreme Court ruled that his detention was unlawful because the interim custody orders (ICO) used to initially detain Adams had not been “considered personally” by then secretary of state for Northern Ireland Willie Whitelaw.
Despite this, the Legacy Act as it currently stands prevents Adams, and hundreds of others who were interned without trial in the North in the 1970s, from claiming compensation for their unlawful detention.
This is because in 2023, the Conservatives inserted a clause into the Legacy Act which sought to “provide for the validity of interim custody orders” used to intern Adams and hundreds of others and to prohibit compensation from being paid.
The Conservative government had contended that the ICOs were lawful due to a convention known as the Carltona principle, where officials and junior ministers act in the name of the UK Secretary of State.
However, last February the High Court in Belfast ruled the parts of the act related to the ICOs were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
But the entire Act cannot be repealed without something to replace it, and in December the Labour government tabled a remedial order that will repeal parts of the Act, including the sections covering ICOs.
The remedial order to amend the Legacy Act notes the 2020 Supreme Court decision and on the back of it, proposed to remove the provisions relating to ICOs which prevented people such as Adams from claiming compensation.
Meanwhile, a UK government spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Office told the BBC yesterday: “During the Legacy Act’s passage through Parliament, that government belatedly agreed to an amendment on the custody orders, despite the original ruling having been made all the way back in 2020.
“Last year, that amendment was ruled by the Northern Ireland courts to be unlawful and therefore it needs to be repealed.”
The Legacy Act is aimed at addressing the legacy of the Troubles but has been almost universally opposed by parties and victims’ groups in the North.
The controversial law attempted to provide a conditional amnesty for people suspected of Troubles-related crimes in exchange for co-operating with a new information recovery body.
As part of its power, it prevented inquests and civil actions in relation to incidents that took place during the Troubles.
Labour is in the process of replacing it and the UK government spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Office remarked that the Act “included a scheme that allowed for immunity from prosecution, including for those who committed the most appalling terrorist crimes”.
“We are also repealing these unlawful provisions and will be bringing forward new primary legislation to address the full range of legacy issues,” added the spokesperson.
The issue came into stark focus after the right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange published a paper on Tuesday criticising Labour’s remedial order and the Supreme Court decision to quash Adams’s convictions.
“The judgment opened the door for Mr Adams and hundreds of others detained in the 1970s to claim ‘compensation’ for what should always have been recognised as lawful detention,” said Policy Exchange.
“This is why the judgment matters and why Parliament was right to reverse it.”
It added that “Adams’s detention for suspected involvement in terrorism should in fact be regarded as perfectly lawful” and that “paying “compensation” to Gerry Adams, and others detained in similar circumstances, would be unjust and damaging”.
Should the change to the Legacy Act be endorsed by the UK parliament, Adams is highly likely to pursue compensation.
And if Adams were to be successful in pursuing compensation, it is thought that it could result in a six-figure payout, covering both his unlawful detention and prosecution for attempted escapes.
However, the Belfast Telegraph has reported that a UK Government source has suggested that compensation for Troubles internees, such as Adams, could be capped at £1.
Northern Ireland Secretary of State Hilary Benn said “nobody wants to see” compensation being paid to Adams for his detention, but defended Labour’s decision to repeal the act.
“Nobody wants to see that but the Supreme Court judgment which ruled that the interim custody orders following internment were not lawfully put in place, in which the Carltona principle was much discussed, was in 2020,” Benn said.
“The last government did nothing about that for three years until they belatedly accepted an amendment in the House of Lords which has now been found to be unlawful.”
Gerry Adams has said he is not surprised the UK Government would seek to “dodge its lawful and human rights responsibilities” in respect of compensating him and other Troubles internees.
“When the legislation is changed there will almost certainly be further legal process in the courts before there is clarity on this matter,” Adams said yesterday.
On Wednesday, the front-page headline on The Daily Telegraph read: “PM to pay damages to Gerry Adams.”
And in an opinion piece today, one of its editors claimed that “Starmer’s revolting betrayal will never be forgotten”.
“This Labour Government is acting against the British national interest. It cares more about ‘human rights’ than about its own citizens,” wrote Allister Heath in an article referencing the “taxpayer-funded compensation” to Adams.
But Belfast journalist and author Malachi O’Doherty, who wrote a book on the former Sinn Féin leader titled Gerry Adams: An Unauthorised Life, noted that every party in the North wanted the Legacy Act to be repealed.
He argued that it is “stupid” that the Legacy Act should remain as is because Adams might access compensation for having been interned.
“That’s like saying we should do away with the pensioner’s bus pass because Gerry Adams might get one,” O’Doherty, told The News Agents podcast.
“It’s just a daft idea that you base legislation without considering the actual nuances of it, but you do it simply because Gerry Adams might benefit.”
He added: “If serious political figures are discussing how you deal with the whole past of Northern Ireland with all the outstanding crimes, and you measure that against the possibility that Gerry Adams will benefit, because of a cock-up from the UK government in introducing internment in the first place and a cock-up around the documentation in the Adams case.
“There was a mistake made in the internment order and the Supreme Court determined he was entitled to compensation for that.”
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