Lurgan Ulster Unionist Councillor Colin McCusker has called on local UKIP representatives to state if they support their Party Leader Nigel Farage’s weekend comments in which he effectively called for an amnesty for Troubles related killings. .
Councillor McCusker said:
“The weekend comments from UKIP Leader Nigel Farage on the issue of Victims and how we deal with the past highlighted a clear difference of opinion between that party nationally, and its Northern Ireland branch.
In a newspaper interview headlined “Farage: draw a line under the past” Nigel Farage said that “the past can never be forgotten but there comes a time to draw a line in the sand. Either everybody must be prosecuted for Troubles-related events or nobody must be prosecuted.”
“This sounds remarkably close to the idea of an amnesty and is certainly not something that the Ulster Unionist Party would countenance. We are quite clear that victims should not be denied the opportunity to receive justice, however remote that chance may be. The case of RUC officer John Proctor, whose killer was convicted over 30 years after his murder, shows that justice can be done long after the event.
“With polling day fast approaching on Thursday, UKIP representatives locally must come out and state clearly if they support their Party Leader’s calls for an amnesty, or if they are at odds with their Leadership.”