British prime minister Tony Blair accepted today that controversial legislation to grant an amnesty to Northern Ireland terrorists on the run would cause "anger and anguish".
But he said the new law, due to be given its second reading in the Commons tomorrow, was needed to give momentum to the stalled peace process.
Under the legislation, those wanted by police for offences committed before the Belfast Agreement was signed in 1998 will have their slate wiped clean, just as those held in jail for such offences have been released.
Mr Blair told the Commons Liaison Committee, made up of the chairmen of all its select committees: "It's never been a secret that we need to do something because otherwise there's an anomaly.
"For those people convicted of crimes before the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, they are now out of prison and free.
"People can agree with that or disagree with that but that's the case. It was always going to be an anomaly we had to resolve in respect of those people who had not been convicted but had been sought pre-1998.
"This hasn't popped up. There's a sense in some of the comments made by some of those in Northern Ireland that this has come as a shock. This has been part of the discussions we have had with parties in Northern Ireland going back several years," Mr Blair said.
PA