Troubles Bill clears Commons by 330 votes to 178 as MPs back legacy deal

MPs have passed the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill at its third reading, voting 330 to 178 — a government majority of 152 — in favour of legislation intended to address the lingering legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles. The Bill now moves to the House of Lords for further scrutiny, the PA wire reported.

The legislation replaces the previous Conservative government’s 2023 Legacy Act, whose conditional immunity provision for combatants who cooperated with an information-recovery body prompted Dublin to take London to the European Court of Human Rights. The new Bill removes immunity, reforms the Legacy Commission into an information-recovery and investigation body, and allows some judicial investigations to resume.

Prosecution decisions for serious conflict-related offences will rest with the UK Attorney General — a safeguard ministers framed as protection for former British soldiers. The Bill is part of a deal between the UK and Irish governments reached in September 2025, Free Malaysia Today reported.

Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant was emotional as the vote passed, telling the Commons: “This Bill isn’t about one group or another. It’s not about special favours for one group or another. It’s about honesty, candour, the pursuit of justice, and most importantly, truth.”

The vote came despite warnings from nine retired generals that the Bill was a “threat to national security” that undermined confidence in the armed forces.

Three decades of violence over British rule in Northern Ireland cost around 3,500 lives before the 1998 peace deal.