Labour politicians voted to subject Northern Ireland veterans to endless persecution last night in a ‘sickening betrayal’ of their service.
Keir Starmer‘s MPs withdrew protections for troops that barred civil actions against the UK Armed Forces and offered partial immunity against prosecutions.
They backed a remedial order by 373 votes to 106, which removed those safety measures from the Conservatives‘ Legacy Act, introduced in the last parliament.
Last night, former SAS commanders told the Daily Mail terrorists would celebrate the result.
Furious senior officers also likened the treatment of Northern Ireland veterans to traumatised soldiers being executed during the First World War.
Labour and the Liberal Democrat support for the remedial order – and its replacement legislation, the Troubles Bill – has been met by furious resistance. Leading military figures have been particularly angered by apparently ‘bogus’ claims that the new bill offers protections.
Senior officers have argued legal directives – such as veterans being able to give evidence remotely, rather than returning to Northern Ireland, and anonymity – are conveniences rather than protections.
Labour politicians voted to subject Northern Ireland veterans to endless persecution last night in a ‘sickening betrayal’ of their service (pictured: Belfast, 1981)
Keir Starmer’s MPs withdrew protections for troops that barred civil actions against the UK Armed Forces and offered partial immunity against prosecutions
Amnesties contained in the Legacy Act – regarding civil actions and malicious prosecutions – were found to breach Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal upheld an application that the Act was incompatible with ECHR guidelines preventing states blocking the path to justice for victims.
Former SAS commanding officer Richard Williams said: ‘In years to come, I am convinced the country will look upon veterans hounded into very old age by the Government’s unchecked and despicable lawfare much as it now regards shell-shocked soldiers executed by firing squad during World War One: Loyal servants sacrificed by political expediency and moral blindness.’
Last night’s vote will fire a starting gun for hundreds of civil cases against the UK Government that is expected to cost tens of millions of pounds in legal fees.
Those costs will be picked up by UK taxpayers. The Mail has fought valiantly for veterans’ rights as part of its Stop The SAS Betrayal campaign.
Labour made a manifesto commitment to scrap the Legacy Act. Its Troubles Bill passed its second reading in the House in November – but is not yet law.
The Troubles Bill is being introduced by the Northern Ireland Office, with some opposition behind the scenes from Ministry of Defence officials.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn (pictured) said he was seeking to ‘remove indefensible and legally defective provisions in the Legacy Act’
Another major issue for veterans is that the ECHR guidelines are being applied retrospectively – and when lawful operations against the IRA and other groups were planned and executed, the threat posed by future human rights laws was not considered.
Shadow Armed Forces minister Mark Francois said: ‘What Labour are voting for is a sickening betrayal of our brave Northern Ireland veterans.
‘They claim they have six protections – but these are an insult to veterans, in the words of former head of the British Army General Sir Peter Wall.
‘Four of these protections applied to alleged terrorists as well. This is a disgrace.’
The vote means the remedial order – a legislative tool used to amend existing Acts without removing them altogether – will progress to the Lords.
The Government claims the Legacy Act was rejected by Unionist and Nationalist communities in the province. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he was seeking to ‘remove indefensible and legally defective provisions in the Legacy Act’.
Mr Benn argued the order was ‘essential to rebuild the trust of communities across Northern Ireland’.
He said the vote ‘restores the historic right of citizens to seek redress through the courts’.
Around 300,000 troops served on Operation Banner in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007.
