THE father of a North Belfast man murdered by the UVF has branded the British government's Legacy Bill "a shameful destruction of justice".

Rayond McCord was speaking after MPs at Westminster voted to reinstate a controversial amnesty as part of any future Troubles-related investigation.

Last month, the House of Lords backed an amendment preventing a person from requesting immunity from prosecution as part of any future investigation. On Tuesday, as the bill reached its final stages, MPs voted 292 to 200 in favour of reinstating the amnesty to those who cooperate with investigations under the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) body.

It is now likely the government will fail in its bid to get the bill through Parliament before MPs begin their summer break on Thursday.

North Belfast man Raymond McCord's son, Raymond Jnr (22), was murdered by the UVF in 1997. Raymond reiterated his belief that the Bill discriminates against victims of the Troubles.

"The murder of my son Raymond Jr by state agents means nothing to Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives and neither does the other 3,600 innocent men, women and children murdered here in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

"All of the MPs from here voted against the Bill. I was very impressed by some of them who spoke, particularly Jim Shannon and Colum Eastwood.

"The Irish government, US President Joe Biden and the EU need to step up and not only condemn this shameful destruction of justice but take action against. They need to do more than just talk about it.

"Be it through the courts in Strasbourg or a refusal of any trade deal it's clear just words are not enough.

"The families and victims not only deserve justice, they are entitled to it under British and International Law.

"This Bill that discriminates against the victims of the Troubles, be they Protestant Catholic or neither."

North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly said: “The British Government, should scrap its flawed Legacy Bill and end the fiction that it can contribute anything to reconciliation.

“The reality is that this bill is about prolonging state cover-ups and denying truth to families about the deaths of their loved ones.

“Some of those families have been waiting for truth and justice for more than 50 years and this bill which will deny families access to the courts is cruel, callous and in breach of international law and international human rights standards.

“This reckless legislation is being rushed through and ignores opposition from victims and families, all the political parties on the island of Ireland, human rights experts,  the UN, as well as officials in the US and EU.

“The British government should scrap this legislation and get on with implementing the legacy mechanisms agreed at Stormont House by the two governments and political parties in 2014 in a human rights' compliant manner.”