Editorial: It is time for Reform UK and the Conservatives to outline plans to tackle Ireland on legacy, given that Labour never will

The third paragraph of the BBC online report on the UK-Irish meeting yesterday said:“​The Irish government, along with all of Northern Ireland's political parties and victims' groups, oppose the existing UK Legacy Act.”

This is an example of deplorable BBC reporting. It is largely true, but highly misleading. The opposition to the Legacy Act (not shared by the very important, but often ignored, Malone House Group convened by Jeff Dudgeon) is from radically different perspectives.

The clear implication of the BBC report, and previous reports like it other media, and in remarks by the Labour government and successive Irish ones, is that everyone is agreed that the last Conservative government was wrong on legacy, and so Labour is right in its overhaul of the act, and perhaps Ireland too is right to sue the UK.

This newspaper opposes an amnesty, even though we think that it would be markedly better than a process that turns against heroic UK state forces (as every major legacy proposal so far is likely to do). But not once have we parroted this line, as unionists until recently did, about the implied consensus on legacy – one that Ireland used to justify its disgraceful legacy action against the UK.

It is welcome (albeit far too late) that all three main unionist parties are making clear they do not share a position with hypocritical nationalist politicians on legacy. But with Micheal Martin yesterday confirming that Hilary Benn’s report of a near legacy deal with the UK, then remember this: Dublin will not endorse anything other than a ‘human rights’ process that will (in effect) end up focusing on UK state forces.

Why do Reform and the belatedly ‘tough’ Tories say little about this? They might be in power within a few years. It is time to spell out the retaliatory action they will take against a state that determinedly refused to extradite IRA terrorists through the Troubles.