SAS veterans are being hounded with the threat of prosecution decades after their service thanks to a shameful betrayal by Labour.
The Mail today launches a major campaign with ex-Special Forces commanders and senior MPs to protect the soldiers who bravely defended this country.
We are demanding that ministers U-turn on their bid to repeal the Tories’ Legacy Act, which shielded Northern Ireland veterans from historical ‘witch hunts’, or else produce a proper alternative.
It comes as former SAS soldiers face possible murder charges after a judge in Northern Ireland ruled that the shooting of four IRA terrorists in 1992 was not justified. Those behind the campaign have warned of a dire threat to national security if this process is permitted to continue.
One ex-SAS commanding officer said ministers had to wake up to the need to protect serving and retired personnel from ‘this creeping lawfare’ or it would prove ‘calamitous’ by hobbling operations and hitting recruitment.
The campaign has already generated £250,000 in fighting funds in a single donation from ex-SAS soldier-turned-entrepreneur Sir Mike Gooley, founder of travel company Trailfinders.
A petition on the Parliament website demanding protection for Northern Ireland veterans has, meanwhile, reached 136,290 signatures, meaning a parliamentary debate will be held on July 14. The campaign team includes two former SAS commanding officers and a Regimental Sergeant Major.
Other senior soldiers involved in the call for action served in undercover roles and faced being murdered by IRA terrorists every time they deployed.
The political dimension of the campaign is being led by Conservative MP Sir David Davis, a former SAS reservist. He said last night: ‘What we have seen so far has been a travesty of justice. This is not just about those who served in Northern Ireland.
‘It is about giving protection and certainty to the entire Armed Forces family. Our veterans deserve our respect, not relentless legal pursuit decades after the events in question.’
At a press conference at the Nato summit in The Hague, the Mail yesterday asked Keir Starmer why he was opening veterans up to a possible legal witch hunt by repealing the legislation.
The PM replied: ‘I worked in Northern Ireland for five years so I know just how important and significant these issues are. We are in talks and discussions about how we resolve this issue.’
SAS veterans have suffered emotional trauma from their hounding by lawyers. This included a suicide attempt by a former Special Forces soldier last year.
Former SAS Regimental Sergeant Major George Simm said: ‘As a result of these evidence-free accusations, soldiers are realising they have no legal rights. This has to change, out of necessity, for national security reasons. They have never been so exposed.
‘On operations, to be compliant with the Human Rights Act, soldiers need their own lawyer on speed dial to advise them if there’s a chance they might have to kill someone. The situation is beyond absurd. Soldiers didn’t sign up to defend activist judges or a European legal system.’
The case at the centre of the campaign involves the 1992 shooting of four IRA terrorists by SAS soldiers in Clonoe, County Tyrone. Following a police investigation and inquiries by the coroner, the RUC concluded at the time that there should be no prosecutions. The soldiers stated their use of lethal force was reasonable due to the threat posed by the IRA.
However, last year they were ordered to appear before a new ‘legacy inquest’. Coroner Mr Justice Humphreys ruled in February the soldiers’ use of force was excessive, despite the terrorists having a heavy machine-gun and other guns.
He claimed there was no attempt to arrest the four IRA men and determined, more than 30 years after the incident, that the soldiers should have waited for the IRA gang to disassemble the machine gun.
The Ministry of Defence has vowed to challenge his verdict. But in the meantime, files have been passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions in Northern Ireland. This could trigger a criminal investigation.
Last night, former SAS CO Aldwin Wight said it was absurd that the soldiers who confronted the IRA at Clonoe ‘should have to face the possibility of criminal action based on a subsequent flawed inquest three decades later, under a law that didn’t exist in 1992.’
He said it ‘will prove calamitous for national security. Nobody is going to volunteer to expose themselves to this sort of legal nonsense.
‘When are ministers going to wake up to the need to protect serving and retired personnel from this creeping lawfare?’
Relatives of the IRA terrorists brought the ‘legacy inquest’ citing Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1998 Human Rights Act.
The previous Tory government brought in the Legacy Act to protect Northern Ireland veterans from prosecution and endless investigations. But Labour’s manifesto included a pledge to repeal the ‘unlawful’ Act.
The Northern Ireland Office has pledged to replace it ‘in a way that is lawful, fair and that enables families, including military families, to find answers’.
The Government claims its commitment to the Armed Forces is ‘unshakeable’.
