Hilary Benn was behind the decision to pave the way for Gerry Adams to claim compensation, No 10 has said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Northern Ireland Secretary took the decision to scrap parts of Troubles legislation barring the former Sinn Fein president from claiming compensation.
The Northern Ireland Troubles Act, introduced by the Tories, stopped Mr Adams and some 400 other Republicans from claiming compensation over their detention in prison in the 1970s.
Labour decided to repeal the law last year after the High Court in Northern Ireland ruled that the legislation was incompatible with human rights laws. Mr Benn said the decision to repeal the law underlined “the Government’s absolute commitment to the Human Rights Act”.
Asked whether Lord Hermer, the Attorney General, was involved in the decision, a No 10 spokesman said: “I’d stress that any decisions on the Legacy Act are taken by the Northern Ireland Secretary as the responsible department.
“I appreciate the strong interest here but there’s a long-standing convention observed by successive governments that the substance of law officers’ advice to the Attorney General is not disclosed.”
Ministers decided not to appeal against the court’s ruling, despite warnings on Tuesday by 16 peers that the decision would “reopen the door to a wave of meritless litigation” relating to events dating back more than 50 years.
In a report by the Policy Exchange think tank, the group of leading lawyers, former judges and ministers, including Lord West, a former Labour security minister, said hundreds of people who were lawfully detained for suspected involvement in terrorism could be paid compensation in an “unjust and wasteful use of public money”.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This was a shocking decision by the Labour Government. Repealing the legacy legislation could allow known terrorists to claim compensation and embroil the Government in endless costly litigation, while genuine victims may get nothing.
“Despite his empty words in Parliament this week, is now clear the Prime Minister has no plan to fix this issue. It is disgraceful that the Labour Government chose to drop the appeal on this issue, initiated by the previous Conservative administration.”
Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, also attacked the Government’s move, saying that “in Starmer’s Britain you can be locked up for a stray tweet” but “former terrorists and their apologists are suddenly showered with unexpected gold”.
Lord Hermer, who represented Mr Adams on a separate damages claim by IRA victims, has refused to say whether he advised on dropping the appeal or repealing the legislation blocking his former client from claiming compensation.
Victims of IRA atrocities have warned that it would be “offensive” and “perverse” to allow Mr Adams to claim compensation when they have been denied such financial recompense.
On Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to find a way to block Mr Adams and other Republican detainees from claiming compensation, despite remaining committed to repealing the Troubles legislation. No 10 officials declined to say how he might achieve that ambition.
Asked on Friday whether the Prime Minister was concerned about having someone who had worked for Mr Adams working on the legislation, his official spokesman said: “There is an established and rigorous system in place within the Attorney General’s office to ensure that law officers will not be consulted on any cases that could give rise to a potential conflict of interest.
“Now that’s because, by their experience and professional background, attorney generals will have by their very nature extensive legal backgrounds and they’ve been involved in a wide number of varied cases.
“I’d just note that with regard to the Legacy Act specifically, those policy decisions are taken by the Northern Ireland Secretary, as the relevant department.”
Jason McCue, who acted for the families of the Real IRA’s 1998 Omagh bombing, said repealing sections 46 and 47 of the Troubles Act, which block the compensation, was “perverse” when other “more worthy non-protagonist” victims of the Troubles were being denied such funds.
“It would be foolish in the extreme to revoke 46/47 and thereby give Adams et al a pathway to compensation which would destabilise reconciliation within the legacy,” he said.
Instead, he urged the Government to lodge an appeal to halt any court moves allowing compensation until it had drawn up a new Northern Irish Legacy Act to replace the Tories’ Troubles Act.
Lord Hermer has come under mounting pressure over his work as a barrister and accusations of conflicts of interest with his current role.
He has refused to declare whether or not he recused himself from advising ministers on issues relating to his former clients, including Mr Adams, and Afghan families accusing special forces of murder.
The Telegraph also revealed that he fought the Home Office in the courts to try to help migrants stay in the UK.
As a human rights barrister, Lord Hermer represented an Eritrean man claiming to be an unaccompanied child migrant. In a high-profile legal challenge, he argued that immigration officers’ age assessment guidance for asylum seekers was unlawful because there was a risk they could be wrong. However, the Supreme Court rejected this argument.
The question of how the Home Office assesses the age of asylum seekers remains relevant while the Government looks for ways to cut historically high levels of net migration.
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Office said: “The last government’s approach to legacy was almost universally opposed in Northern Ireland.
“During the Legacy Act’s passage through Parliament, that government belatedly agreed to an amendment on the custody orders, despite the original ruling having been made all the way back in 2020. Last year, that amendment was ruled by the Northern Ireland courts to be unlawful and therefore it needs to be repealed.
“It should not be forgotten that the Legacy Act also included a scheme that allowed for immunity from prosecution, including for those who committed the most appalling terrorist crimes. We are also repealing these unlawful provisions, and will be bringing forward new primary legislation to address the full range of legacy issues.
“We must never forget that the vast majority of deaths and injuries during the Troubles were caused by acts of terrorism.”acts of terrorism.”
