The Ulster Unionist Party’s Justice spokesperson, Doug Beattie MC MLA, has urged the Secretary of State to launch the consultation process on Legacy issues, which was first talked about last Easter.   

Doug Beattie MC MLA, said:

“Having called for the Legacy public consultation to start before Christmas I now call on the Secretary of State to announce exactly when the consultation will start.

“This consultation does not require a deal between Sinn Fein and the DUP to begin this important step towards dealing with our past and neither should they be allowed to block it because of its uncomfortable content. It is important that the public are told what the Legacy Bill will contain and that victims and survivors’ groups should have the opportunity to influence the detail of the bill.

“I also call on the DUP to use whatever influence it has with the Government at Westminster to get this consultation process launched as soon as possible.

“The Ulster Unionist Party has made it clear we have some very real issues about the content of the legacy bill - not least with regard to the possibility of a Statute of Limitations – but that should not stop the consultation proceeding.

“Having taken legal advice, it is clear any Statute of Limitations is likely to result in a general amnesty, which will obviously include those who committed some of the worst human rights abuses in our recent history. For this reason, we cannot support a Statute of Limitation and we therefore call on the DUP leader Arlene Foster to ask her MPs to remove their names from the proposal that is currently making its way through Westminster.”