Gerry Adams in line for ‘payday from taxpayer’ under plans to repeal Legacy Act, says think-tank report
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Shadow Attorney General Lord Wolfson KC says Labour’s reasonings for planning to repeal the Legacy Act ‘make no sense’. Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams will receive taxpayer-funded compensation if Sir Keir Starmer’s government plans to repeal the Legacy Act go ahead, a think-tank has claimed.
Mr Adams is currently blocked from receiving compensation over his detention in prison without trial in the 1970s, despite winning an appeal in the Supreme Court in 2020 to overturn historical convictions for two attempted prison breaks. Sections of the Legacy Act agreed by Parliament in 2023 in response to the Supreme Court ruling have blocked Mr Adams from receiving compensation.
But after the High Court in Belfast ruled February last year that provisions of the Act were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Sir Keir’s government have signalled their intention to repeal certain sections. Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said that the decision to repeal the law underlined “the Government’s absolute commitment to the Human Rights Act”.
Policy Exchange, a London-based think tank, has released a paper criticising the move. The paper has been backed by 16 peers, including Shadow Attorney General Lord Wolfson KC. He said the government’s claims that this repeal signals a commitment to the Human Rights Act “makes no sense and warrants the sharp criticism that this paper ably provides”.
