Mr. Daniel Holder:

It will certainly get a rougher ride in the House of Lords. In the House of Commons, all of the opposition parties were opposed to it, but very few Conservatives were. I understand the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Julian Smith, and possibly a few others abstained on the Bill. Beyond that, there will be a much greater interrogation of the Bill in the House of Lords.

In our view the Bill is irredeemable. It is not a question of it needing a few tweaks and changes; it is simply a question of withdrawing or rewriting the entire thing.

The issue which is continuously raised is whether the House of Lords can block the Bill. As with everything in the UK system, it is down to convention rather than strict rules. The Salisbury convention means that the House of Lords cannot normally block a Bill that was in the manifesto of an elected Government. However, sometimes what was in the Conservative manifesto is overstated. It does not refer to an amnesty in these terms or ending all investigations. It actually refers to outcomes for victims and survivors, as well as veterans. It remains to be seen how much resistance there is in the House of Lords.