 The British government has proposed to halt all persecutions of British soldiers who served during three decades of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland and of militants involved in the bloodshed, which cost some 3,600 lives. London has said persecutions linked to the violence are increasingly unlikely to result in convictions, but allegations over unresolved crimes from Northern Ireland's trouble remain a contentious issue 23 years after a peace deal was struck. Northern Ireland's main political parties and many victims' groups have been critical of introducing a statute of limitations on the alleged offences of the British military, Irish nationalist militants and pro-British loyalist parliamentaries. It is clear that the current system for dealing with the legacy of the troubles is not working. It is now a difficult, in fact a painful truth that the focus on criminal investigations is increasingly unlikely to deliver successful criminal justice outcomes. But all the while it continues to divide communities and it fails to obtain answers for a majority of victims and families. If we fail to act now to properly address, acknowledge and account for the legacy of the troubles, we will be condemning current and future generations to yet further division preventing reconciliation at both the individual and societal level. Mr Speaker, that is why I am today laying before this House and publishing a paper that proposes a series of measures to address the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland.