British prime minister David Cameron has rejected charges from Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness that the decision by the PSNI to arrest Gerry Adams was politically motivated.
“We have an independent judicial system both here in England and also we do have one in Northern Ireland, and there’s been absolutely no political interference in this issue,” he declared.
“We have independent policing authorities, independent prosecuting authorities – those are vital parts of the free country and the free society we enjoy today,” said Mr Cameron.
Privately, there is concern in some quarters in London that the PSNI has raised the stakes considerably by arresting Mr Adams rather than questioning him about the killing of Jean McConville. Tapes and transcripts from now-deceased members of the IRA, such as Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price, would not pass “the first test of admissibility in a court”, one source said. However, former Labour Northern Ireland secretary of state Peter Hain said the developments supported the argument that Northern Ireland must find a comprehensive solution to dealing with the past.
"I do think this whole matter raises again and brings into dramatic focus the whole question which I have been asking along with Richard Haass and the Northern Ireland Attorney General [John Larkin] as to whether this is the best way of handling these matters," he said.
Freed under licence
"The answer is transparently no, but in the absence of a different and alternative way obviously the process must take its course," said Mr Hain, who in 2005 proposed that people convicted of paramilitary crimes would appear before a special tribunal and then be freed under licence.
Despite the substantial criticism that he and Mr Larkin received when they separately proposed their ideas, the Labour MP said: “There is a remorseless inevitability about opinion swinging around.”
