Select committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
4th Report - HM Government support for UK victims of IRA attacks that used Gaddafi-supplied Semtex and weapons
HC 49
Published 2 May 2017
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee HM Government support for UK victims of IRA attacks that used Gaddafi-supplied Semtex and weapons inquiry Report on parliament.uk ↗
At a glanceGovernment response published 15 September 2017
The government's response
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.
The Government agrees that Gaddafi's support extended and exacerbated the Troubles and says it will keep raising compensation with the Libyan authorities, but it has concluded that a UK-funded reparations fund is "not a viable option" at this stage.
- The Government agrees that weapons, funding, training and explosives from Gaddafi to the Provisional IRA extended and exacerbated the Troubles, and states that it wants "a just solution" for victims.
- It "commits to use our bilateral relationship" to stress the importance of compensation, but does not believe making support to Libya conditional on it would be in the UK's national interest.
- On frozen Libyan assets, it states there is "no legal basis" for a licence to release funds for compensation, and that seizing them is "not a feasible option".
- It says early settlement with Libya is "unlikely", but that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will continue to provide updates and facilitation support to victims "where possible".
What the committee recommended
No recommendations or conclusions have been extracted from this report. This is normal for correspondence and for special reports.
Sources
- 4th Report - HM Government support for UK victims of IRA attacks that used Gaddafi-supplied Semtex and weapons ↗The committee's report, HC 49, parliament.uk
- 1st Special Report - HM Government support for UK victims of IRA attacks that used Gaddafi-supplied Semtex and weapons: Government Response to the Committee’s Fourth Report of Session 2016–17 ↗The government's response, 15 September 2017, parliament.uk