UUP MLA and Executive Office Committee Vice-Chair, Doug Beattie MC has again called on the Secretary of State to step in and resolve the delay to the Victims’ Payment Scheme.
Doug Beattie MC MLA said:
“Sinn Fein have a lot to answer for in blocking the Victims’ Payment Scheme. It is a total disgrace that this foot dragging has been allowed to go on until it reached a cliff-edge. They are the wreckers here and are denying injured victims the financial assistance they have been promised and deserve.
“It cannot continue to be the case that it’s Sinn Fein’s way or nothing. It’s perverse that injured victims feel they have no other option but to go to the courts to get what they rightfully deserve and has been legislated for.
“What we have here is Sinn Fein promoting the idea that terrorists were victims - those who didn’t discriminate in who they murdered and injured. Men, women and children in the right place at the right time, going about their normal business, only to have their lives changed forever by a premeditated act of terrorism supported and excused by Sinn Fein. Those who created innocent victims can never be viewed as victims.
“Of course, this can all be resolved. The Secretary of State can step in and the Northern Ireland Office could take over the administration of the scheme. I would again appeal to Brandon Lewis to do that urgently. Sinn Fein favouring preserving their narratives of the past over doing right by injured victims cannot be allowed to stall the Victims’ Payment Scheme any longer.”