By Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor PUBLISHED: 06:36 EST, 27 February 2014 | UPDATED: 12:28 EST, 27 February 2014 The families of the soldiers killed in the 1982 Hyde Park IRA bomb have been accused of ‘bitterness’ and failing to move on, by the ex-Labour minister who agreed to the scheme which saw a suspect walk free from court. Former Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain refused to apologise for the deals which critics say amounted to an ‘amnesty’ for nearly 200 suspected IRA killers. He said that while the feelings of the relatives of the bombing victims were ‘understandable’, the Labour government had to help ‘society as a whole to move on’.
@highlight
Former Northern Ireland Secretary refuses to apologise for deals
@highlight
Suspect John Downey was told he was not wanted by police in 2007
@highlight
This was despite there being an outstanding warrant against him
@highlight
Familes furious over blunder, saying they feel 'devastatingly let down'
@highlight
Shocking attack in 1982 in Central London park left four soldiers dead
insisted that  @placeholder today is ‘light years from where it