Opinion

Newton Emerson: Legacy row an example of English politics intruding on the peace process

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson writes a twice-weekly column for The Irish News and is a regular commentator on current affairs on radio and television.

An Amnesty International demonstration against torture. File picture by Michael Stephens, Press Association
An Amnesty International demonstration against torture. File picture by Michael Stephens, Press Association An Amnesty International demonstration against torture. File picture by Michael Stephens, Press Association

A RARE instance of English politics intruding on the peace process lies behind growing tensions on dealing with the past. The potential prosecution of former British soldiers, plus new torture allegations from the 1970s, are matters that could have been digested if contained to Northern Ireland. The prosecutions, for example, arise from a PSNI legacy unit set up two years ago to prioritise military cases, without the slightest Westminster objection. But since then there has been a huge controversy in Britain over lawyers pursuing soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. This week human rights solicitor Phil Shiner was struck off after being found to have acted dishonestly in bringing murder and torture claims against Iraq veterans. The so-called Marine A case, involving the murder of a wounded Taliban fighter, has also become a cause celebre. So there is no scope for the usual platitudes and peace processing from the secretary of state right up to the prime minister - even though, as the Irish government has pointed out, this obstinacy can only imply a partial and unlawful amnesty.

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Gerry Adams has said Sinn Féin can work with the DUP at Stormont again if “corruption” is dealt with, just days after saying corruption is being dealt with by the planned RHI inquiry. These are not the words of a man setting high hurdles, yet the DUP still managed to trip over them with an election leaflet claiming: “Arlene Foster has been vindicated by an independent senior civil servant.” The leaflet was entitled ‘The Facts’ but the vindication claim is not a fact. The leaflet also said “all RHI recipients will be named”, although legal action indicates otherwise. I could say it is a fact the DUP was counting on this all along but I would need to have that vindicated.

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There were audible gasps at Westminster’s Northern Ireland Affairs Committee when Michael Lux, former head of customs at the European Commission, set out the implications of Brexit. Lorries will have to be physically checked at the frontier, licences will have to be carried for all goods and animal export rules mean even dogs will need pet passports. The latter point caused MPs to protest it was unenforceable, but Lux was adamant, insisting: “This is the law.” Indeed it is - and it has been EU law since 2004. Dogs already require a passport to cross the border, along with a microchip, certificate of vaccinations and proof of quarantine. Stormont’s department of agriculture has issued notices that this will be enforced but everyone just ignores it. As for frontier checks, only the Republic will have to perform them and southern installations are unlikely to be a security issue. Lux conceded that once the UK leaves it can do what it likes - perhaps with checks at Lisburn, or Stranraer, or on a screen at your haulier’s head office in Stevenage. This is all a useful reminder that it is not just Brexiteers who like to bend their bananas.

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The Supreme Court has ruled against the PSNI’s handling of the flag protests - a story that would have made bigger headlines if the world was not falling apart. All the grandiose legal and human rights arguments used for years to justify surrendering to loyalist thuggery were briskly set aside, with judges noting the police have an “inescapable duty” to uphold the law and protect the public. What new escape technique will emerge this July? Meanwhile, Jamie Bryson - who led the protests in question - has been arrested over Stormont’s Nama witness coaching scandal. It is debatable if this even constituted an offence but no thuggery was involved, so the full might of the law has fallen upon him.

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The PSNI has launched a campaign against parking on pavements. In London there is a specific law against putting so much as a wheel up on the kerb but in the rest of the UK a penalty notice can only be issued for causing an unnecessary obstruction, which can be a nuisance to prove if contested. The PSNI should be congratulated for taking on such a worthwhile yet thankless task - it is bound to be swamped with complaints from all directions. Still, it has hard not to note that officers feel powerless - despite all their legal powers - when the road is obstructed by loyalists.

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Two weeks ago, Sinn Féin threatened to pull out of the Joint Ministerial Committee due to the prime minister’s stance on Brexit. This produced an afternoon of headlines, to which the general response was ‘what on earth is the Joint Ministerial Council?’ So obscure is this body, which brings together Downing Street and the devolved administrations, that some reports misnamed it the Joint Ministerial Committee. That brings together the British government and its overseas territories - a category we do not fall under, yet. Having failed to get any mileage from its melodramatics, Sinn Féin turned up at the scheduled council meeting this week with impressive shamelessness, and proceeded to mock Arlene Foster for tagging along despite no longer being first minister. However, republicans did have some impact - the event had been moved from Belfast to Cardiff because of the collapse of the executive

newton@irishnews.com