There were widespread recriminations yesterday over the British government's "on-the-runs" legislation, with sharp exchanges between the two main nationalist parties in Northern Ireland and disagreement between the British and Irish governments on the degree of consultation prior to the publication of the Bill.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan challenged the veracity of Sinn Féin's Mitchel McLaughlin on Radio Ulster's Talkback programme. Mr McLaughlin, meanwhile, accused the British government of "pulling a flanker", ie playing a trick, by including the security forces under the terms of the Bill.
He also accused the SDLP of "revisionism" about its own stance. Citing comments by former SDLP deputy leader Bríd Rodgers about the Weston Park talks in 2001, Mr McLaughlin claimed: "She made it clear that, while they were not involved in the negotiations on the OTRs, they went along with it."
Mr Durkan replied: "Nobody accepted a package at Weston Park, there wasn't a package at Weston Park."
He added: "Mitchel is admitting that Sinn Féin have taken a different line in private than they have in public because the fact is, Sinn Féin welcomed the legislation. Not only did [ Sinn Féin MP] Conor Murphy fly over [ to Westminster] to welcome the Bill, it was a published Bill that he welcomed."
Also yesterday, senior Irish Government sources continued to insist emphatically that they had not received any prior consultation or warning from the British government that the security forces would be covered by the legislation. British government sources told The Irish Times earlier this week that "the whole shape of the scheme" had been discussed with Dublin. Denying this firmly, high-level Dublin sources said it was "a Peter Hain decision at the last minute".
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said London "double-crossed" his party by including members of the security forces in the Bill. "Downing Street have told me that very clearly, that they accept that they broke commitments which they gave."
Democratic Unionist Party deputy leader Peter Robinson challenged Sinn Féin to state why IRA members should get special treatment. "Why should any evil, determined terrorist be pardoned while members of the security forces who, if they made a bad judgment call while defending this community, in circumstances not of their making, face the risk of prosecution and jail arising from decisions made in difficult and dangerous circumstances?"