Ulster Unionist Party Leader Robin Swann MLA has called on the Government to recognise the strength of opposition which exists to the legacy proposals which formed the basis of the NIO’s consultation process.
Robin Swann MLA, said:
“The Ulster Unionist party is encouraged by the strength of opposition which has emerged with regard to the NIO’s legacy proposals. There is clearly a significant section of society which is not prepared to sit in silence and meekly accept the rewriting of the history of the Troubles.
“The current system for dealing with the past is not working and change is necessary, but that is no reason to replace it with something even worse. We have little or no confidence that the proposed legacy arrangements will in any way help achieve the Bill’s stated principle that the approach to dealing with Northern Ireland’s past should be ‘balanced, proportionate, transparent, fair and equitable.’
“It would be nothing short of madness and a cowardly betrayal for any Government to acquiesce in a process that will sacrifice the reputation of its police and soldiers as an act of appeasement to IRA terrorists.
“The imbalance in the availability of credible historical records and the fact that the proposed Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) will only examine some fatalities and do nothing for the 47,000 victims injured as a result of terrorist activity is totally unacceptable. It`s a scandal which should be stopped.”