John Baron MP questions Government during John Downey statement

MP raises point of order

Today in the House of Commons the Attorney General, Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP, responded to an Urgent Question on John Downey secured by Laurence Robertson MP. John Downey is suspected of being involved in the 1982 IRA Hyde Park bombing, in which four soldiers were killed.

However, his trial recently collapsed when it came to light he had been given an official assurance he would not face trial. This assurance was given to him in error, but the judge ruled that the commitment must be upheld. The CPS has announced it will not appeal against the ruling.

In the House of Commons, John asked,

“However it is presented, the court’s decision has effectively put suspected terrorists above the law. This is in contrast to how we are dealing with the ‘Bloody Sunday’ affair. Will the Attorney General answer the one question which he has so far not addressed, and that is who first authorised these letters?”

The Attorney General would not answer the question. As a result, John Baron MP raised a Point of Order immediately after the Urgent Question, which the Speaker then invited the Attorney General, who was still in his place, to answer. The Attorney General confirmed that successive governments had authorised these letters.

John said afterwards,

“The court’s decision confirmed these letters are, in effect, amnesties for terrorist suspects, but the Minister would not answer who first authorised them. There is little doubt these letters were part and parcel of the peace process, but instigated behind Parliament’s back. And I believe they are still being issued.”

“It is fundamentally wrong that suspected terrorists are given amnesty at the same time the Northern Ireland Office is advertising for witnesses to the ‘Bloody Sunday’ incident with a view to prosecuting former soldiers. For peace and reconciliation to be lasting, there has to be balance to our dealings.”

Ends

Word Count: 325

Date: 26^th February 2014