Committee ‘is deliberately censoring one point of view’

MHG, which includes veteran gay rights campaigner Jeffrey Dudgeon, alleges that its position on amnesty and coming to terms with the conflict is being “suppressed” throughout academia, the media and now Westminster.

Mr Dudgeon said MHG has submitted three separate papers to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee but never received any invitation to address its members.

“The views we have on legacy, whether it is our belief that an amnesty is the only practical way to move on or that “lawfare” is only deepening community divisions, is regarded with hostility by academia, the media and now it seems the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

“This is about the suppression of one point of view and it is extended into the Westminster committee overlooking all things about Northern Ireland.

“We have made three submissions to the committee with suggestions on how Troubles legacy is handled and there is no invitation to speak. It seems to us that this committee is deliberately censoring one point of view.”

He continued: “This censorious attitude follows a pattern set down in the academic and journalistic world in Northern Ireland.

“The group was founded in March 2018 and from then on neither of the main broadcast organisations in Belfast have invited us on the airwaves to argue our viewpoint. It is as if there is only one narrative on legacy and that is all.”

Mr Dudgeon said “lawfare” aimed almost exclusively at the security forces during the Troubles was causing and deepening communal divisions rather than reconciliation.

MHG also includes academics such as Dr Arthur Aughey and lawyers including Austen Morgan QC who was David Trimble’s legal advisor during the negotiations leading up to the Belfast Agreement.

Although it shares the present government’s view that immunity-from-prosecution is the only means by which all those involved in Troubles-related killings and other crimes may give a truthful account about the conflict, MHG’s latest submission predicts that the legacy bill will “cause more not less trouble”.

A committee spokesperson said, “The committee is examining the new legacy legislation and will be hearing from people and groups with a variety of views in the coming weeks across multiple sessions. Witnesses will be confirmed in due course.”