Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson said comments made over recent days by previous Labour Northern Ireland Secretaries of State reveal a disturbing willingness to turn a blind eye to the heinous criminality committed by the IRA and other terror groups during the Troubles in the interests of political expediency.
Mr Nicholson said that Peter Hain in particular was deserving of criticism following his previous comments in support of an effective amnesty for anyone who has committed terrorist crimes, thereby denying the families of victims the chance – however slim – to receive a measure of justice.
Mr Nicholson said:
"Peter Hain's comments have been less than helpful and indeed have been regarded as deeply offensive to many victims and their families. Now his Labour party colleague Shaun Woodward has also, by implication, prioritised what he terms 'the peace process' far ahead of the concept of providing justice and closure for the many people painfully traumatised by the terrorist atrocities of the Troubles.
"Interventions by politicians like Peter Hain and Shaun Woodward merely highlight the culture that lay at the heart of the Blair Government and the extent to which it was prepared to go in secret deals with the likes of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, culminating in the secret letters of comfort given to the so-called “On the Runs.”
"The recent comments of Messrs Hain and Woodward clearly indicate the disquiet in certain influential political circles that someone like Gerry Adams could have been arrested and questioned over past IRA crimes.
"As someone who fully supports the concept of the rule of law and due process, I must say that Sinn Fein’s concerns over the rights and privileges of Gerry Adams in connection with his arrest over allegations of criminality, pale into insignificance when compared to the trauma and continuing pain of the still grieving family of Mrs Jean McConville, who was brutally murdered and buried so callously by the IRA in 1972. Over forty years on, that family deserve justice."