MP 'appalled' at inquiry bill

The inquiry is examining the events of 30 January 1972

An MP has said he is appalled at the cost of the Bloody Sunday Tribunal which has now reached almost £90m.

The inquiry is examining the events of 30 January 1972 when 13 civilians were shot dead by British army soldiers during a civil rights march in the city. A 14th person died later.

The greatest portion of the costs, more than £38m, has been spent on legal fees.

The cost of providing IT equipment now stands at more than £12m.

"The issue of the legal fees does not surprise me, even though it is appalling," DUP MP Gregory Campbell said.

"But it is the issue of the salaries and IT bill. £12m is a staggering amount to be spent on IT for an inquiry, the end result of which will satisfy no-one.

"It is a staggering waste of public expenditure."

The breakdown in costs was given in response to a parliamentary question by Mr Campbell.

In June, the families of the Bloody Sunday dead criticised the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, over comments about the cost of the Saville inquiry.

Mr Straw, who was defending the government's decision not to order a judicial inquiry into the Iraqi intelligence row, told the House of Commons he did not believe judicial inquiries were "satisfactory".

He said the government had been responsible for establishing some judicial inquiries, including the one into the events of Bloody Sunday, which has been running for nearly four years.

He said it was "now costing scores and scores and million and millions of pounds".

"I think I can say with some confidence I don't believe they (judicial inquiries) are necessarily a satisfactory basis," he said.

At that time, the brother of Jackie Duddy, one of the 13 people shot dead, accused the government of using the Bloody Sunday Inquiry as a diversion.

He said: "In the past we had other people crying about the cost of the inquiry but, at the end of the day, I lost my 17-year-old brother and it is my family's right to find out the truth about why my brother was murdered on Bloody Sunday."

Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the Bloody Sunday inquiry began their work nearly four years ago.

They are not expected to report back until next year.

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.

They felt that the Widgery Inquiry, held shortly after the shootings, did not find out the truth about what happened on Bloody Sunday.