THE Northern Ireland Secretary is later expected to announce a statute of limitations ending all prosecutions related to the Troubles before 1998.

The approach, to be outlined by Brandon Lewis in the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon, will be presented as a way of dealing with the legacy of the region’s troubled past.

The approach has been slammed by political parties and victims groups as a “de facto amnesty” for both veterans and former paramilitaries.

It is opposed by all five of the main political parties in Northern Ireland and by the Irish government.

White-line picket protests took place last weekend against an amnesty.

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Kathleen Gillespie, who lost her husband in an IRA attack which saw him chained him to a van containing a bomb and forced to drive to a military base, told Sky News she felt "robbed" by the news. 

"We're just the ordinary common people so it's alright to push us to the one side," she added.

Government sources have rejected claims it would effectively amount to an amnesty.

The plan is expected to include legislation which government wants to be passed by Parliament in the autumn.

More than 3500 people died during the conflict, which stretched from the early 1970s to the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement in 1998, while tens of thousands more were left injured.

Last month Lewis and Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney announced “intensive engagement” by the two governments on legacy.

Commenting on the latest development, Coveney wrote on Twitter: "This is not a fait accompli. This is UKG outlining its position. Irish Govt has very different view (Stormont House), as do NI political parties & victims groups.

"SOSNI & I have committed to an inclusive dialog to try to agree consensus & that’s underway."

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Families of victims, political parties and other stakeholders are to be involved.

Lewis then said the process will “build on and develop on the principle of the Stormont House Agreement”.

In 2014, the Stormont House Agreement proposed a Historical Investigations Unit to examine unsolved murders during the Troubles and an Independent Commission on Information Retrieval for families to learn more about the fate of their loved ones.

None of the proposals were implemented.

Bereaved families have been seeking answers about what happened to their loved one by pursuing fresh inquests while a number of cases are being examined by former Bedfordshire Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.