MPs urged to back pensions for terror victims

The South Belfast representative also said the UK should aspire to be the global leader in the treatment of terrorism victims, when she introduced a new bill in the Commons.

Mrs Little Pengelly said there was a tendency to “underestimate the gravity” of the physical and psychological injuries caused by terror attacks, and repeated the DUP’s position that perpetrators of terrorist acts cannot also be victims.

“I do not wish to dwell for long on the definition of a victim issue, but it’s safe to say that to me this is very straightforward – the terrorist who drives the van into a crowd of people, who wields the knife, who shoots to kill or plants the bomb is not a victim. Even if he is killed in doing so. To me, that is absolutely clear and right,” she said.

Her Victims of Terrorism (Pensions and Other Support) Bill proposed a review of the support given to all victims of terrorism across the UK, and calls on the government to bring forward a special pension payment for the most severely injured.

However, the new bill, introduced under the Ten Minute Rule, is unlikely to become law due to a lack of parliamentary time.

“The terrorism that impacted so significantly in Northern Ireland also destroyed lives across the UK, from London to Warrington to Birmingham and beyond. This is about compassion. Victims must not be forgotten,” she told MPs.

Mrs Little Pengelly spoke of the long, painful process of recovery from severe physical injuries, and the mental health pressures for others of the trauma experienced and witnessed which might take many years to manifest.

“For those most deeply impacted it is often the end of their world as they knew it,” she added.