Northern Ireland veterans have blasted the government’s ‘betrayal’ after Labour announced fresh plans which could pave the way for criminal prosecutions of soldiers who served in the Troubles.
New criminal hearings relating to the conflict were effectively ended by the Tory government but in a new framework to deal with the legacy of the past, a joint deal between Britain and Ireland announced today means any such immunity would now cease.
It means soldiers who are now in their 60s and 70s face the potential prospect of fresh inquiries which could lead to criminal charges decades after the events in question.
Ex-soldier and backbencher Sir David Davis described the move as a path to ‘victory for the IRA’ and will mean more anxiety for elderly soldiers.
While Paul Young, a former Blues and Royal who works with the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, described the plans as a ‘betrayal of those who served with honour during the Troubles and a distortion of justice for victims of terrorism.’
Former Tory MP and Army captain Johnny Mercer, who introduced the Conservative government’s Legacy Act, which has now been scrapped, told the Mail that it was ‘hard to watch this Government steadily walk back every gain I had made for veterans over the previous five years.’
Today’s announcement at Hillsborough Castle, near Lisburn, came as a bitter blow to veterans who wanted an end to persecutions over operations against terrorists decades ago.
Inquests will now go ahead following the landmark agreement with the Irish government after nine-months of negotiations.
These could trigger fresh criminal investigations and the possibility of murder charges being brought against troops.
A new Legacy Commission will ‘seek to find answers for families – the unfinished business of the (1998) Good Friday Agreement’
Under the agreement, Irish authorities will provide the fullest possible co-operation with UK investigations, and investigate all unresolved Troubles-related incidents.
The UK Government will legislate to end the former Government’s immunity plan for terrorists.
The 2003 Legacy Act, introduced by the former Conservative government, halted scores of civil cases and inquests linked to the conflict and offered conditional immunity for perpetrators of Troubles crimes in exchange for their co-operation with a new truth recovery body.
But while a new package of six protections for veterans is promised, ex-SAS soldier and Tory backbencher Sir David Davis said the move laid a path to ‘victory for the IRA’ and will mean more anxiety for elderly soldiers.
The announcement came as a bitter blow to veterans who wanted an end to persecutions over operations against terrorists decades ago.
Inquests will now go ahead following the landmark agreement with the Irish government after nine-months of negotiations.
It is also possible these inquests could trigger fresh criminal investigations and the possibility of murder charges being brought against troops.
These incidents include a daring SAS mission to prevent IRA troops targeting the Loughgall police station in 1987
Eight terrorists were killed by the brave troops stopped a digger truck with explosives in its bucket.
Afterwards, Republican groups complained the terrorists had not been given sufficient opportunity to surrender.
Such cases are at the centre of the Mail’s Stop the SAS Betrayal campaign to improve human rights for soldiers.
While more than 200,000 people have signed an online petition calling for veterans to be protected from persecutions.
Sir David said: ‘One such inquest will likely concern the events at Loughgall. If that happens, it will be read as a victory for the IRA.
‘It appears the Irish government has pressed for at least nine inquests to proceed. It is difficult to see the need for these inquests when we have the Independent Commission for Reconciliation Information and Recovery to investigate and provide answers for victims’ families.
‘At Loughgall the heavily armed IRA gang attempted to murder police officers. The SAS’s actions were reviewed at the time and found to be entirely legal by the Director of Public Prosecutions.’
Mr Davis said the Irish government, which will be part of a reconciliation framework with the UK ‘is not a neutral participant’ and called for their actions to be ‘scrutinised’.
The new plans offer no protections against prosecutions for elderly veterans cleared by previous inquiries but who are now subject to human rights legislation.
As a sweetener, the package announced with great fanfare at Hillsborough Castle yesterday, they will no longer required to travel to Northern Ireland for inquests.
They will also be able to apply for anonymity, though it will not necessarily be granted, and they will no longer be served with court orders on their doorsteps. Instead, regimental associations and welfare groups will be involved in the process.
The new cross border agreement comes after the 2023 Legacy Act, introduced by the Conservatives in the previous parliament, was ruled unlawful by the High Court in Belfast.
The legislation, pushed through the House of Commons by previous Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer, put up barriers to prosecutions against veterans.
The new UK and Irish deal on mechanisms to deal with the Northern Ireland Troubles offers an opportunity to deal with the ‘unfinished business’ of the region’s peace agreement, Hilary Benn said said.
The Northern Ireland Secretary was joined by Irish deputy premier Simon Harris at Hillsborough Castle this afternoon to formally unveil the framework, which has been developed following substantive engagement between the two governments following years of impasse over the toxic legacy of the conflict.
Mr Benn said: ‘Dealing with the legacy of the troubles is hard, and that is why it has been for so long the unfinished business of the Good Friday Agreement.’
He added: ‘We have now both an opportunity and a responsibility to try and deal with this and not put off difficult decisions for yet another generation.’
Mr Benn reflected on the impact of hearing stories of loss from victims of the Troubles as he expressed hope that a route to closure was ‘within our grasp’.
He said: ‘Given the wide range of views held by victims and survivors’ groups, individuals, families, veterans and political parties in Northern Ireland, it is clear that a perfect outcome is not attainable.
‘But we firmly believe that this agreement, underpinned by new commitments from our two Governments, represents the right approach and history teaches us that peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland make most progress when our two Governments work together.’
Mr Harris described the framework as a ‘night and day improvement’ on the previous mechanisms introduced unilaterally by the last UK government.
The new framework, which includes commitments to fundamentally reform the mechanisms established in the 2023 Legacy Act, has raised expectations that the Irish Government is moving closer to dropping its interstate legal case against the UK.
Mr Harris said his Government would ‘revisit’ its stance on the legal action if the legislative commitments laid out in the framework are faithfully implemented.
Labour came to power with a pledge to replace and repeal the 2023 Legacy Act introduced by the Conservatives, which halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths.
The Act was opposed by victims’ groups and political parties in Northern Ireland, and it led the Dublin Government to launch an interstate legal case against the UK, claiming it breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said fresh proposals to address the legacy of Northern Ireland’s conflict require ‘serious examination’.
But Mr Robinson expressed concern at the level of Irish Government involvement in developing the framework.
He said: ‘The DUP will engage constructively with these proposals and carefully scrutinise any legislation introduced to give them effect.
‘Our guiding principles remain that everyone should be equal under, and equally subject to, the rule of law, every family deserves a full and fair investigation into the death of their loved one and that there should be appropriate safeguards against vexatious investigations.
‘It is regrettable that today’s package is presented as a joint framework between the UK and Irish governments, rather than being the product of prior consultation and agreement with innocent victims and representatives of veterans. It is our view that the Government should not be deferring to Dublin on the way in which Troubles’ crimes are investigated in Northern Ireland.’
Mr Robinson said it was right that Irish state co-operates with the new structures but he said that should not be out of ‘political expediency’.
He said: ‘First and foremost, any practical outcome must serve the needs and interests of victims and their families.’
Taoiseach Micheal Martin welcomed the new joint UK/Irish legacy framework.
He said: ‘The aim of this package of measures is to provide mechanisms for truth, accountability and justice for victims and survivors of the Troubles, and their families.
‘In all my engagements with Prime Minister Starmer to date, and before that, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn, we have agreed on the importance of finding a way forward together on this most fundamental, yet unresolved, issue.
‘Today marks the start of a new framework of partnership, which recognises the enormity and enduring pain of the legacy of the violence of the Troubles for so many, and our essential responsibility to address that legacy as we work towards truer reconciliation.’
