Brown U-turn over IRA victims
By Liz Stephens
Gordon Brown appeared to cave in to pressure last night, pledging government support for IRA victims seeking compensation from Libya.
The prime minister had previously said it would not be “appropriate” for him to get involved but, following public outcry over the weekend, has changed his position 180 degrees.
He announced there would now be “dedicated Foreign Office support to the victims’ campaign” for compensation from Libya.
“I care enormously about the impact of IRA terror on victims and their families and on our communities,” he said.
The country is said to have armed the IRA in the 1980s and 90s.
Recently released letters from the prime minister to lawyers showed he was previously unwilling to be involved.
“The UK government does not consider it appropriate to enter into a bilateral discussion with Libya on this matter,” Mr Brown wrote in one.
However, Downing Street has denied accusations that Mr Brown was reluctant to get involved in the matter because of trade deals with Libya.
Cabinet minister Ed Balls defended Mr Brown, saying that there had been more important reasons than trade to prevent the prime minister from discussing the issue of the IRA victims with Libya.
“There is a wider issue about engaging with countries which formerly were rogue states and could put all our communities at risk through nuclear action or terrorism and getting them to work with us to make the world safer,” he said.
However, speaking on the Today programme, the schools secretary also revealed that none of the Cabinet wanted the Lockerbie bomber to be released.
The prime minister has repeatedly refused to say whether he supported the decision, maintaining that the compassionate release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was a matter for the Scottish government.
Meanwhile, the son of Colonel Gaddafi has revealed that Libya will fight the bid for compensation from the families of the IRA victims, saying the answer from Tripoli would be “no”.
“Anyone can knock on our door. You go to the court. They have their lawyers. We have our lawyers,” he said.
Col Gaddafi also defended Gordon Brown and reiterated that he had not been involved in talks over Megrahi’s release.
Lawyers for the British victims allegedly have evidence that many of the bombs used by the IRA contained Semtex supplied by Libya.
