EX-SINN Fein leader Gerry Adams is in line for compensation — after Labour lifted a ban on Troubles damages.
The former political boss and Irish Republican extremists were banned from getting publicly funded payouts for being held in jail.
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But ministers have scrapped the ban in a move branded “inexplicable and unjustifiable” by ex-Home Secretary Lord Michael Howard last night.
Mr Adams — who denies being in the IRA — was refused a payout for being unlawfully held in the Maze Prison.
But after his 1975 convictions for trying to escape jail were quashed, he won a legal challenge to get it reconsidered.
The Tory government then passed legislation banning Mr Adams and up to 400 others from seeking such damages.
But last year, the law was ruled by a court to breach human rights.
Now, Labour has dropped an appeal against that ruling and signalled it would repeal the legal blocks.
A report by think tank Policy Exchange condemning the move has been backed by 16 peers.
Policy Exchange’s Professor Richard Ekins KC said: “It will reopen the door to a wave of meritless litigation relating to events over 50 years ago.”