Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Today’s announcement is to be welcomed in so far as, for now at least, it means we will not see a public inquiry.
“My thoughts are with the countless victims who don’t have hours of broadcast media time and acres of newsprint devoted to their loved ones. The output of some media platforms, particularly the BBC, will cement the belief of many that there is a hierarchy of victims. The relatives of those burned alive in La Mon, blown to pieces on Bloody Friday or smothered under the rubble of Enniskillen will look at the attention paid to this case and conclude that some victims are more equal than others.
“Those who call for a multimillion-pound public into this one case while ignoring all those who didn’t get so much as a HET report – which in the best of cases amounted to nothing more than a review of existing police papers – need to seriously reflect on their comments over the last few days.”