**UK Labour Leader Andy Burnham Says He Will Apply “Hillsborough Approach” to Northern Ireland’s Troubles Legacy**
*Belfast –* In remarks delivered in Belfast, Andy Burnham – identified in the source as the UK Prime Minister – said he intends to adopt the same strategy used for the Hillsborough disaster when addressing the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Burnham indicated that the Labour‑led government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will be re‑introduced to the UK Parliament in the autumn.
The statement follows commitments made last year by the UK government, then under Labour leader Keir Starmer, as part of a joint framework with the Irish government on dealing with the Troubles legacy. Among the commitments were reforms to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), the body tasked with investigating unsolved murders from the period.
Burnham said the forthcoming legislation aims to replace the “controversial Legacy Act” introduced by the previous Conservative administration. He highlighted that former Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has pledged to add amendments intended to protect military veterans, including provisions to prevent repeated investigations, to consider the age and welfare of veterans, and to allow veterans to give evidence remotely and anonymously.
Speaking about the bill, Burnham said:
> “It will be brought back in the autumn. Why are we doing that? Because to abandon it would be, in my view, the wrong thing to do. There are families here, there are obviously people, veterans and their families, there are lots of people still seeking answers and it is right to put in place a legislative framework that will allow the commission to do its work, to provide answers to people who are still looking for them. That was the approach I took over Hillsborough, it is something that means a great deal to me.”
He added:
> “I don’t think anyone gains from leaving people without the truth, without those answers. That is what the Bill is seeking to do and we will bring it back to committee in the autumn.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant, who has met with families of Troubles victims in recent weeks, described the ongoing pain experienced by those families:
> “The sense of real anger, resentment, grief, pain because they can’t come to answers, in some cases they can’t even find the remains of their loved ones. Some of the cruelty that was shown, letters being sent to people to pretend that somebody was still alive when they’d actually died, all of that, we have got to get answers for people and it is exactly the same to my mind as Hillsborough.”
The Labour government’s proposed bill seeks to establish a legislative framework that would enable the ICRIR to continue its investigations and provide closure for victims’ families, while also safeguarding the rights and welfare of military veterans. The bill is scheduled for parliamentary consideration later this year.
Article and image source: breakingnews.ie
