Proposal to end NI Troubles prosecutions confirmed
Even before the proposals had been announced, victims and political parties had criticised them as a "de facto amnesty''.
The Government has announced plans for a statute of limitations which would end all prosecutions of ex-paramilitaries and former members of the security forces in Troubles-related cases in Northern Ireland.
Secretary of State Brandon Lewis told the Commons he plans to bring the legislation to Parliament in the autumn.
But, even before the proposals had been announced, victims and political parties had criticised them as a "de facto amnesty''.
Mr Lewis said his plan for dealing with Northern Ireland's troubled past also includes a new truth recovery body and an oral history initiative.
He then confirmed proposals for a statute of limitations "to apply equally to all Troubles-related incidents'', telling the Commons: "We know that the prospect of the end of criminal prosecutions will be difficult for some to accept and this is not a position we take lightly.
"But we've come to the view that this is the best and only way to facilitate an effective information retrieval and provision process, and the best way to help Northern Ireland move further along the road to reconciliation.
"It is in reality a painful recognition of the very reality of where we are.''
Families of the 10 people killed by soldiers in the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast in 1971 came together to watch Mr Lewis's statement to the House of Commons.
A fresh inquest into the deaths of the woman and nine men earlier this year found they were "entirely innocent''.
Eileen Corr, daughter of Joseph Corr, said they see the proposed statute of limitations on Troubles prosecutions as the British Government's "cynical attempt to bring an amnesty and a plan to bury its war crimes''.
She said the proposals "will not be tolerated and will be legally challenged''.
"The Ballymurphy Massacre inquest findings show how the law should work independently,'' she said.
"All victims need to know the truth, they need to know what happened to their loved ones. We all bleed the same blood so everybody needs truth and justice and then maybe they can start living their lives.
"We spent 50 years trying to prove that our loved ones were innocent, there are loads of families out there like us and they all need to know the same thing.''
Speaking earlier during Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson said: "The people of Northern Ireland must, if we possibly can allow them to, move forwards now.
"(Sir Keir Starmer) will know that the proposals that have been brought forward ... are measured, they are balanced and they have a wide degree of support from former Labour prime ministers and former Labour leaders who have considerable more distinction, if I may say, than him.
"He will recall that it was under that Labour administration that many terrorists were unfortunately given effectively an amnesty, and they were allowed to escape the full consequences of their crimes and that is the reality.''
But the families of those killed by soldiers in west Belfast in 1971 have urged against a statute of limitations on Troubles prosecutions.
A fresh inquest into the deaths of a woman and nine men in Ballymurphy earlier this year found they were "entirely innocent''.
A statement on behalf of the Ballymurphy families said: "We see this as the British Government's cynical attempt to bring in an amnesty and a plan to bury its war crimes.
"These latest proposals to deny families Article 2-compliant investigations or access to due process of the law will not be tolerated and will be legally challenged.
"This proposed amnesty shows how low the British Government will go, it will help no-one, it is only being put forward for British veterans, they are the only reason they are rushing this through Parliament.''
More than 3,500 people died during the Northern Ireland Troubles, which stretched from the early 1970s to the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement in 1998, while tens of thousands more were injured.