Police in NI collusion ‘will be dealt with’
Police officers who colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland will be “properly and rightly dealt with”, the prime minister has declared.
This week’s police ombudsman’s report detailing how members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch protected paramilitary informers said prosecutions were unlikely because so much evidence had been destroyed.
But Tony Blair told the House of Commons this lunchtime: “Nonetheless there will be action that we are going to take as a result of her report, that will make sure those who are responsible are properly and rightly dealt with.”
He added that changes to accountability in the region over the past few years meant that there was now “a completely different context in which policing can take place”.
Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain has previously said it was up to the public prosecution service and the Northern Ireland chief constable whether to charge anyone over the collusion, which took place between 1991 and 2003.
Mr Blair was responding to comments by Mark Durkan, MP for the republican SDLP party, who said the ombudsman’s findings that Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) informers were protected in up to 15 cases of murder was a “national scandal”.
He demanded the prime minister rethink his plan to give MI5 responsibility for national security in Northern Ireland, in the wake of the report, saying its new role made it effectively a continuation of the Special Branch but outside the reach of the ombudsman.
Labour MP David Winnick also called for a “thorough investigation” into the collusion, saying: “Is not the reputation of our country involved here?”
Mr Blair said: “Of course we deeply and bitterly regret any collusion that has taken place.but I’m sure he would want to acknowledge that as a result of changes made some years ago, that cannot happen again.”
He denied Mr Durkan’s claims about the role of MI5 in Northern Ireland, saying the intelligence agency would not be involved in civil policing as Special Branch had been.
The prime minister added: “That’s why there is now the possibility for moving forward on the basis of support power sharing and support for rule of law and police on the other.”
Sinn Fein is holding a special conference this weekend to discuss the party’s support for policing in Northern Ireland, a prerequisite for restoring devolved power to the region under the terms of the St Andrews agreement.
On Monday, leader Gerry Adams said the ombudsman’s report was an “incentive to be part of the mechanisms to ensure this doesn’t ever happen again”.
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