NIO minister 'trying to address concerns' over Troubles Legacy Bill with amendments

​Lord Caine said he also has found the legislation “challenging,” but has pledged to table amendments to make the bill more acceptable – particularly for victims of terrorism opposed to the ‘amnesty’ provision.

He said: “My overriding objective over the past number of weeks, really since the summer, has been to engage with as many groups, individuals, political parties as possible...to engage widely, to try and see how I can best improve the bill and return the bill to the House of Commons in an improved and better state than the House of Commons sent it to us. That's the correct constitutional role of House of Lords - not to wreck legislation which has been democratically passed by the elected chamber."

Speaking to UTV’s View from Stormont programme, Lord Caine said: "I was very frank at the second reading of the bill in the House of Lords when I said that I'm very aware that this legislation has been met with far from universal acclamation and support within Northern Ireland itself, and I said it's a very challenging piece of legislation for many in Northern Ireland, but I also said it's a challenging piece of legislation for me.

"I've come on a journey with this legislation over a number of months and I am acutely aware of the sensitivities and the difficulties that some of the proposals actually present for those who have lost loved ones during the Troubles. So I don't for one second dismiss or ignore those concerns.

"What I am trying to do, is listen to concerns and bring forward amendments that will seek to improve the bill and to address some of those concerns."

The NIO minister said there would be no guarantee of immunity in every case.

"The testimony that people give to the commission will be tested robustly against information that is available… to the [truth recovery] commission,” he said.

"They will robustly test the person's statement, and levels of cooperation, and then decide, in a specific case, in a specific incident, whether they then are to be granted immunity from prosecution”.