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Northern Ireland

My Lords, is there not a danger that the Government will be in a position where they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t? Many of us should be grateful to both the Secretary of State and the Minister for the wisdom they have exercised in making this move today. Is the Minister not right to point us towards the long-term problem that remains? Looking at models elsewhere in the world that have dealt with justice and truth, does he agree that we need to try to create some sort of mechanism where people can own up to the things they have done in the past involving terror, murder, the deaths of thousands of people and the injuries of tens of thousands more—the victims who have been mentioned in your Lordships’ House today? On both sides of the divide, with Loyalist groups as well now talking about disengagement from the violent process, we need to put something in place where people can own up to the past, wipe the slate clean and move on into the kind of democratic politics the Minister has outlined.