Could the taxpayer give millions in compensation to Gerry Adams?

Read time: 4 minutes

In brief:

• Labour plans to repeal the Legacy Act which currently blocks compensation payments to around 400 people, including Gerry Adams, who were interned without trial during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland High Court ruled the Act breaches human rights obligations.
• There's significant debate over this move - critics argue it could cost taxpayers millions and reward suspected terrorists, while supporters say legislation shouldn't be based on preventing specific individuals like Adams from receiving compensation.
• Keir Starmer has committed to finding ways to prevent undeserving cases from receiving compensation, though the Shadow Northern Ireland secretary believes there's a "high probability" Adams would receive a payout if the Act is repeal

What’s the story?

Gerry Adams and other suspected members of the IRA could be in line for a payday from the government over their imprisonment during the Troubles.

The former Sinn Fein leader was interned without trial in the 1970s, a practice introduced to deal with violence in Northern Ireland at the time of the conflict.

During the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland, the Troubles saw clashes between nationalists (primarily Catholic) who wanted a united Ireland and unionists (primarily Protestant) who wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom. There was fighting involving paramilitary groups, police, and British armed forces from the late 1960s until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

There is currently legislation that bars compensation payments to Adams and the other estimated 1,900 people who were interned without trial at the time for being suspected of being involved with paramilitary organisations - some of whom were detained based on flawed evidence.

But Labour have started proceedings to repeal the Legacy Act, which blocks about 400 from claiming compensation, saying the Conservatives previous approach was "almost universally opposed in Northern Ireland".

The Northern Ireland High Court ruled that the Legacy Act breaches Britain’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

A new report from Policy Exchange, a right-wing think tank, has said the change could cost the taxpayer millions and would be an “unjust and wasteful use of public money” as up to 400 people, who were suspected of terrorism in the Troubles, could make civil claims.

Gerry Adams has always denied being a part of the IRA.

Should Labour repeal the legislation?

Questioned on the topic in today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir Starmer stood firm that the Legacy Act was "unfit" because it was not supported by victims or political parties.

But he also committed to try to stop undeserving cases from receiving taxpayer money.

“We will look at every conceivable way to prevent these types of cases claiming damages and it's important I say that on the record," he said.

But Alex Berghart, Shadow Northern Ireland secretary, believes there is a “high probability” that Keir Starmer will see Gerry Adams paid compensation on his watch.

Speaking on The News Agents, he said repealing this part of the Legacy Act is “unacceptable”.

“This particular part of the Act has to be kept, or we're going to see people receive compensation that they shouldn't get. That is wrong, and we will oppose it.”

He argues that whilst political parties in Northern Ireland opposed the legislation, there were lots of people who supported it, saying they “wanted to draw a line under the troubles and move on”.

But not everyone agrees that the repeal is a bad move.

While he confesses he doesn’t particularly admire or agree with Gerry Adams, author Malachi O’Doherty argues that serious political figures should not base legislative reform on the potential benefit to one individual, even a controversial figure like Adams.

O’Doherty, who penned ‘Gerry Adams: An Unauthorised Life’, says the “stupidest” reason for not repealing the legislation and allowing cases to proceed is because Gerry Adams might get compensation.

“That's like saying that's saying we should do away with the pensioners bus pass, because Gerry Adams might get one,” he says on The News Agents.

“It's just a daft idea that you base legislation on policy or principle without considering the actual nuances of it and the content of it, but you do it simply because Gerry Adams will benefit. It's bizarre.”

What’s The News Agents’ take?

“Simply put, the question is; If you deem a policy or a practice to be unlawful, if you want to overturn that, if you want to pay compensation to that, should you be paying compensation to people widely regarded as terrorists?” Emily Maitlis summarises.

The situation, Lewis Goodall says, is “messy”.

“What do you do about historic grievances, about people who have done wrong, about how justice works to people we know have done wrong, which cases the state chooses to prosecute and which it doesn't.”

O’Doherty’s argument, that you wouldn’t stop everybody getting a bus pass just to stop Gerry Adams getting a bus pass, may ring true with Keir Starmer, Emily says.

“Starmer has a legal brain. He's a barrister. He's a former Director of Public Prosecutions.

“Maybe he would say, ‘this will be one of the sacrifices to overturn a bad law’. But I just can't see him doing that. He knows the politics of that.”

The implication of paying Adams compensation would be to admit he was wronged - and that would likely be triggering for a lot of the British public.

“This is not just letting sleeping dogs lie. It's not leaving things alone. It's the British state going over and above, saying ‘we're sorry and we've done something wrong to you’”, Lewis points out.

The story, being so “emotionally charged”, especially from people on the right, he thinks is likely to continue to cause issues for the Labour government.

“It is one of those stories that can just become a real lightning rod.

“It’s like the grooming gangs story in a way - ‘are you paying taxpayer money to terrorists?”

“You can imagine Elon tweeting about it, right?”

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.