Sinn Féin has said accidentally leaked information from the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has exposed Theresa May’s claims about the unfairness of legacy investigations as "false".
Officials in the NIO press office were left red faced after inadvertently releasing briefing notes drafted for Secretary of State Karen Bradley.
The document covering a range of topics went out on Sunday night in an email flagging up Mrs Bradley's visit to Strule campus in Omagh today.
On abortion, the NIO reiterated its desire that the matter be resolved by Stormont, while on Brexit, the secretary of state was advised to say that the British government wanted to get to the future relationship with the EU as quickly as possible.
In reference to Mrs May's claim of imbalance in legacy prosecutions, the NIO document said: "The point the prime minister was making was that we want to see all outstanding deaths in Northern Ireland investigated in a fair, balanced and proportionate way to ensure the system does not focus disproportionately on the security forces."
Sinn Féin MLA Linda Dillon said the briefing notes exposed the British prime minister's "inaccurate and damaging claims".
"This directly contradicts what Theresa May told the House of Commons, yet she has still failed to withdraw remarks which caused great hurt to many victims’ families," she said.
Amnesty International's Grainne Teggart said the briefing note's reference to the provision of free abortion services in England implied that was the limit of the British government’s responsibility on the matter.
"This is absolutely not the case and shows the government’s total disregard for vulnerable women who are unable to travel," she said.
However, pro-life group Care welcomed the British government's position on abortion.
"This has consistently been our position – that abortion is a clearly devolved issue and one on which the Northern Ireland Assembly voted on only two years ago," said policy officer Mark Baillie.
“Our abortion laws provide protection both for the unborn baby and for the mother and we think both matter in this debate.”
