Brandon Lewis tight-lipped on amnesty for Troubles veterans

Mr Lewis was asked if he supported an amnesty for soldiers during a visit to Londonderry.

“I am not going into the detail at the moment, we will come forward as a government with an outline of what we want to do in due course,” he said.

Mr Lewis also said Prime Minister Boris Johnson wanted to make sure there are no “vexatious claims about veterans”.

“Obviously prosecutions are an independent issue for the prosecutors in any given area,” he added.

“The prime minister has been very clear that there are no vexatious claims, it’s very different from anything else, we’ve been very specific about that. We will be coming forward with some proposals for that in due course.”

Meanwhile, Mr Lewis refused to be drawn on whether he agrees with the PSNI’s report that the IRA Provisional Army Council still oversees Sinn Fein.

It comes after Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said his force’s assessment of the report “does not differ” from the PSNI’s.

“We got the assessment from 2015, I’ve got nothing to add from that,” Mr Lewis said.

“I think there has been a lot of coverage of that over the last period. My focus is about looking forward.”

Asked about the relationship between Sinn Fein and the Provisional IRA at a graduation ceremony for new garda recruits, Commissioner Harris said: “I am aware of the PSNI and the British security services assessment and we do not differ from that view.”

His comments led Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald to state that the IRA no longer exists.