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Northern Ireland Troubles Bill Passes the Commons 330-178

MPs passed the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill 330-178 on 20 October. It replaces the 2023 Legacy Act and now goes to the House of Lords.

ByPeter
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The House of Commons passed the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill at third reading on 20 October by 330 votes to 178. The government bill repeals and replaces the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, the previous government’s law on investigating killings and other crimes from the Troubles, the conflict that ended with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. It now goes to the House of Lords.

At a glance

  • Bill: Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, introduced on 14 October 2025 by then Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn (bills.parliament.uk).
  • Vote: third reading passed 330-178 after two days in Committee of the whole House on 19 and 20 October.
  • Main change: the 2023 Act’s conditional immunity scheme is scrapped and its investigations body is reformed as a Legacy Commission.
  • Next: Lords stages, where the Conservatives say they will press for changes.
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What the bill does

According to the government’s announcement at introduction, the bill will:

  • End immunity: remove the 2023 Act’s scheme that would have let people seek immunity from prosecution in return for information.
  • Reform the investigations body: the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) becomes a Legacy Commission with an oversight board, new conflict-of-interest duties and stronger powers to obtain information.
  • Restore some inquests: inquests stopped part-heard by the 2023 Act can resume, while other halted inquests are referred to the Solicitor General to decide whether a coroner or the Commission should handle them.
  • Work with Ireland: a new Independent Commission for Information Retrieval, set up jointly with the Irish government, would privately receive information for families but would have no power to investigate.
  • Protect veterans: measures include a presumption that veterans can give evidence remotely and a duty on the Commission not to duplicate earlier investigations unless that is essential.

Where it stands

  • 14 October 2025: first reading (formal introduction) in the Commons.
  • 18 November 2025: second reading, the first vote on the bill’s principles.
  • 13 October 2026: MPs voted 304-179 to extend its carry-over deadline to 29 April 2027, keeping it alive into the new session.
  • 19 October 2026: MPs approved a two-day timetable 286-163 and began the Committee of the whole House, a stage in which all MPs can amend the bill.
  • 20 October 2026: MPs voted down four amendments and new clauses, including a new clause on a duty to promote reconciliation (184-330), then passed the bill at third reading 330-178.

On 19 October the government said it had added deadlines for public bodies to hand information to the Commission, regular inspections of the Commission and a formal recognition of the conditions in which the security forces served, according to its press release.

What supporters and critics say

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant told MPs the bill is “primarily about families” and quoted the Royal British Legion: “Veterans and those Armed Forces families who lost loved ones in the conflict deserve answers,” according to Hansard. In a government press release the day before, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said veterans “should not face an endless cycle of reinvestigation” and that the amendments were developed in consultation with veterans.

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart said the ICRIR created by the 2023 Act “is working,” with 277 cases before it and 123 investigations under way. He urged the government to replace its “essential” test for reopening cases with a “new and compelling” evidence test, and said no veterans groups support the bill as it stands. Liberal Democrat spokesperson Paul Kohler said his party would vote against it because it “still does not do enough to protect veterans or to promote reconciliation and justice for victims.”

Labour MP Alex Baker, whose Aldershot seat is home to about 5,000 serving personnel, said the bill was “much improved” but said they would abstain on third reading, citing the case of a soldier cleared three times who could still face another process. Former Secretary of State Hilary Benn said the calmer tone of the debate was “a sign that the Government have listened.”

Analysis: The size of the majority makes Commons passage settled, but the arguments over the test for reopening cases and repeat investigations of veterans are unresolved. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both said they hope the bill is changed in the Lords.

What happens next

  • House of Lords: the bill starts again with a first reading, then second reading, committee, report and third reading, where peers can amend it.
  • Ping-pong: any Lords amendments return to the Commons, which can accept or reject them.
  • Royal Assent: the bill becomes law only once both Houses agree the same text, before its 29 April 2027 carry-over deadline.

Sources

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