Editorial: The chorus of criticism of UK on legacy is par for course, with unionists letting themselves be depicted as siding with republicans

It ought to be sickening to hear the ex bomber Gerry Kelly MLA on his high horse over the legacy of the Troubles. Yesterday the Sinn Fein politician was scolding the UK government's plans for the past. "The proposed new timeframe for concluding inquests will make it more difficult for families to have this most basic investigation into the killings of their loved ones," he said.

Mr Kelly then cited the criticism of the legacy bill by Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg which "strongly reiterated" its calls upon the UK to reconsider the conditional immunity scheme. And the Irish foreign minister Micheal Martin was able to point out that this bill was progressing "without the support of political parties in NI, and without support from families, victims' groups or civil society". He said that "providing for amnesties for crimes amounting to gross human rights violations" would "would undermine rather than assist reconciliation".

So it ought to be sickening to hear Mr Kelly at the heart of the chorus of criticism, given his past role in the biggest killers of the Troubles, the IRA, which has always been so dishonest about its murdering terrorist past. It ought to be sickening to hear Mr Martin, a government minister in a state which for three decades refused to extradite known IRA murderers, and then switched to a de facto amnesty for IRA folk in its territory, lecturing the UK.

But this is par for the course. Unionist politicians let it appear that there is cross-party agreement with relentless critics of the UK on security such as Baroness O'Loan. Unionists fail to show contempt for Sinn Fein on legacy, and fail to emphasise that there is no common ground with them. Meanwhile, under this pressure London makes concessions on legacy that will help ensure the process remains biased against state forces.