𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A new battle to protect veterans who were on the frontline in Northern Ireland during the years of IRA terror from vexatious prosecutions is about to begin. Conservatives will attempt to change the Labour Government’s Troubles Bill so no one who served in the armed forces or the intelligence services or the police in Northern Ireland will face prosecution if they were following orders.

Labour is determined to repeal the Conservatives’ Legacy Act which blocked inquests and civil actions and offered both veterans and former terrorists conditional immunity if they provided information on Troubles era atrocities.

Conservatives warn the Government’s treatment of veterans risks weakening today’s armed forces by damaging recruitment and encouraging members of the special forces to quit.

They will fight to secure changes to Labour’s legislation which would require the prosecuting authority to take into account the age and health of the veteran, any trauma suffered as a result of service during the Troubles, and the number of times they have been previously investigated.

Shadow armed forces minister Mark Francois condemned the treatment of those who risked their lives in the province, saying: “There is no other country on earth that would treat its veterans in this way.”

Simon Barry, a retired lieutenant colonel who served with the Parachute Regiment, warned: “Labour will lose trust with veterans and service families for nothing.”

Predicting that veterans and not paramilitaries will be hounded, he said: “Many terrorist cases cannot be built decades later – records are thin, forensic trails are cold – so the system defaults to pursuing the side that kept paperwork and can be compelled to disclose.”

Warning that Labour’s Bill “looks less like reconciliation and more like political theatre,” he said: “Labour will pay a price for picking this fight. The only people genuinely cheering this are those who want to keep the old conflict alive – because the practical effect is the state stays in the dock while terrorists rarely face consequences.”

Former defence minister Sir Mike Penning, who was a soldier in Northern Ireland, warned of morale being destroyed, saying: “What we need is to retain the great skills we have – especially [in] our special forces – who are leaving in droves because they are not being supported.”

Labour received a serious blow when Northern Ireland veterans commissioner David Johnstone warned its Bill would result in those who served in the armed forces being treated “worse than terrorists,” saying: “It is hard to overplay how serious this is.”

The SAS Regimental Association has threatened legal action and a petition urging the Government protect veterans was signed nearly 210,000 times.

The Conservatives’ Mr Francois claimed many veterans and their families lived in so-called Red Wall seats in traditional Labour heartlands.

Insisting that opponents of the Bill are committed to securing changes, he said: “Remember, over 700 British Army soldiers were killed on Operation Banner, thousands suffered life-changing injuries at the hands of both Republican and so-called Loyalist terrorists. For much of the time the British Army was the piggy in the middle.

“Had it not been for the brave service of the British Army in Northern Ireland there would never have a Good Friday peace agreement in 1998. Hence, we are defending those who defended us.”

Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin said: “The Government’s Troubles Bill is a shameful law that betrays our armed forces, prioritising terrorists ahead of our own brave servicemen and women.

“Prosecuting Northern Ireland veterans and dragging elderly soldiers through endless court cases for doing their duty is a national disgrace. A Reform UK government will enact ironclad protections for those who served our country and end this witch-hunt once and for all.”

A UK Government spokesperson defended Labour’s plans, saying: “The vast majority of those killed during the Troubles were murdered by terrorists. Many families still do not know how their loved ones died and have approached the independent Commission for information and answers.

“The Troubles Bill is about enabling more victims and families, including a great many Armed Forces families, to do the same through a reformed commission. The last Government’s proposal to give immunity to terrorists was wrong.

“It was rejected by the courts, and indeed by victims and many veterans alike. Any Government would have had to replace it.

“The Troubles Bill will put in place six new and effective protections for our veterans. We will never equate the actions of terrorists with those of our brave armed forces.”