Cameron must reveal the full truth
THE saga over the 1972 Claudy IRA bombings which resulted in the deaths of nine innocent people and subsequent collusion by government, the Roman Catholic Church and RUC in the non-arrest of the main suspect in the atrocity, the priest James Chesney, continues to cast a haunting shadow over life in the Londonderry village.
Prime minister David Cameron is in the eye of the storm over the bombings and at Westminster question time yesterday East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell intervened on behalf of the families of those brutally murdered.
Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, deputising for David Cameron, provided Mr Campbell with little comfort other than to say that secretary of state Owen Paterson made what he described as a full apology to the families.
Mr Clegg did add that the Tory government of the day "acted wrongly" in colluding with the RUC and then Catholic primate Cardinal William Conway in not arresting James Chesney and questioning him about his suspected involvement in the bombings, but he completely ruled out a public inquiry.
Aside from Nick Clegg's apparent fudge, David Cameron must come to the Commons dispatch box as soon as possible with candid revelations about why then secretary of state William Whitelaw concluded that the arrest of James Chesney had to be avoided.
Undoubtedly, William Whitelaw would have had to clear this far-reaching decision with his prime minister Edward Heath and there are certain to be official papers relating to the matter.
A public inquiry on the scale of the Saville inquiry into the 1972 Bloody Sunday bombings in Londonderry may not be possible, but the Claudy families need the government to be more forthcoming about the truth of official connivance in a most heinous IRA crime.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
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Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
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