OTR legislation - final comments

The legislation granting an amnesty to on-the-run terrorists was passed yesterday by the House of Commons with a sizeable majority, and I expect it will sail through the Lords too, get the royal seal of approval and become law. On this blog we look forward, not back, so it's something we're just going to have to live with, but I want to be clear to my readers on one thing: this was only done to appease the IRA.

Pressed during the Commons debate last night by Willie McCrea (for whom I have little time, but he put up a passionate and, I think, genuine performance), Tony Blur said he realised it was a hard pill to swallow, but that in politics "sometimes you have to make difficult decisions" - rhetoric cunningly designed to make opponents look as if they're just not brave enough to say yes.

In truth, this is saying to the IRA, the INLA, the UVF, the UFF, the UDA and the (few) murderers who sheltered behind the uniforms of the RUC, UDR, RIR and the British Army that if you terrorise hard enough, for long enough, the state will reward you for stopping. It's that simple.

The British government has given in to terrorism, fair and square, and no amount of swishy spin can change that. As Neville Chamberlain learnt to his shame, the truth is that appeasement doesn't work. Ever.