Naomi Long: Brandon Lewis comments on victims’ pension funding ‘disappointing and disingenous’

Speaking in the House of Commons today he said that Stormont’s finance department must not “play games” over funding the pension scheme for Troubles victims.

Stormont and Westminster have been engaged in a long-running row about which should finance the scheme.

On Monday Stormont Finance Minister Conor Murphy published his budget for the year ahead, making zero provision for any payments for victims.

Stormont ministers say that as the scheme was passed by Westminster, it should also produce the funding.

Speaking in the House of Commons today, Mr Lewis said there is a “moral as well as a legal and an ethical duty” to ensure people are able to access funding for the scheme.

“I think there is a moral as well as a legal and an ethical duty to ensure that the victims are able to access that programme of work,” he said.

“I know the work is ongoing to do that, the Department of Justice, the minister there, is passionate and determined about that, as is the first minister.

“One of the frustrations that I’ve had in 2020, I have to say, was the fact that it took a court case to get the deputy first minister to even designate a department. That simply wasn’t good enough and the Department of Finance now need to ensure that they do not play games with victims and their pensions and their payments, and ensure that that money is made available to the Department of Justice to get on to deliver this programme.”

He also said: “This is a devolved matter and devolved matters are funded from the [NI] block grant. The Executive needs to step up and fund this scheme.”

However, Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long slammed Mr Lewis’ comments, tweeting that they were “disappointing and disingenuous”.

She added: “As I said at [the assembly] yesterday, if we approach this together constructively, a solution can be found to ensure the pension to be realised and end uncertainty for victims. I don’t think that is an unreasonable position.”

Her comments were supported on Twitter by former secretary of state Peter Hain, now a member of the House of Lords.

“[Brandon Lewis] is refusing to SERIOUSLY discuss with Northern Ireland Ministers funding of Severely injured victims Payment Scheme means it could be stillborn despite their legal entitlement and will cast toxic cloud over other legacy aspects of NI violent past,” he tweeted.

Former SDLP leader, now fellow peer, Margaret Ritchie also tweeted that she had urged Mr Lewis “to meet with the NI Executive to discuss a hybrid funding solution for the Victims’ Pensions Scheme”.

She added: “Victims are the most important people in this debate & should not be pawns in a political debate.”

Mr Lewis’s comments came as shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland Louise Haigh warned “we simply cannot wash our hands of our responsibility”.

She said: “Victims of the Troubles have been badly treated in the last year in particular and are fast losing confidence in whether we will all deliver on the promises that we made to them in this House.

“The Troubles pension was legislated for in Westminster, it applies to victims across the UK and beyond, and we simply cannot wash our hands of our responsibility.

“So, will the secretary of state urgently meet with the relevant ministers in the Executive to discuss meeting the upfront costs of the scheme, which he must accept are not reasonable to be funded out of the block grant, and ensure that the pension too many have waited decades for will finally be delivered?”

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