Government is 'only making things worse by continuing to oversell its veterans measures' says DUP MP Carla Lockhart

That is the view of DUP MP Carla Lockhart, following over a week of criticism of the six "protections", which form part of Labour's fresh policy on dealing with the Troubles.

She was speaking after armed forces minister Al Carns issued a statement standing by the six measures, which are billed as an attempt to soften any legal processes involving former soldiers.

Much of the criticism of them centres on the fact that the government has admitted that many of the protections are not in fact reserved for veterans at all, but could be used by anyone, including potentially by paramilitaries.

This led to the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner to tell the News Letter last week: "One thing that is clear is that these are NOT veterans protections... I think the goverment, in an attempt to balance the fact that much of the new legacy proposals are detrimental to veterans, have oversold these measures."

The criticism is continuing to escalate too, with nine retired generals having this week writing an open letter to The Times adding their voices to the attacks on the government's policy.

The six measures were announced in September, at the same time as an agreement on how to handle legacy issues – known as "the Joint Framework" – was unveiled with the Dublin government.

Confronted with the growing disparagement of the six measures, minister Carns (who is a former Royal Marine) said: "We promised our veterans who served with honour in Northern Ireland that we would put proper protections in place, and our legislation delivers on that commitment.

“After the false promises of the last government, we are putting in place six real, workable protections for veterans that the failed Legacy Act never did."

Upper Bann MP Mrs Lockhart has now said: “We have highlighted the absence of any meaningful protections for veterans since the publication of the framework.

"That has been backed up by the Veterans Commissioner and others.

"Aside from one, whereby the MoD would contact veterans on behalf of the Legacy Commission, none of the proposed measures is specific to veterans.

"Continued attempts to oversell these measures only risks undermining them even further in the eyes of those who have served."

Listed beneath the heading “your protections as a veteran” the six protections are as follows:

"You cannot be forced to travel to or around Northern Ireland to give evidence as a witness to the commission or to an inquest”;

"The Legacy Commission won’t needlessly duplicate previous investigative work you may have already participated in” and “you won’t need to explain historical context that’s already known”;

"Your health and well-being will be taken into account”;

"You can request anonymity when giving evidence”;

"Protection from cold calling … you’ll only be contacted through official channels, with MoD support”;

And, lastly, that veterans’ representatives (plural) will be among those sitting on the Victims and Survivors Advisory Group “to ensure your perspectives are considered”.

Since then, the government has said "measures set out in the legislation, including the right to give evidence remotely and having regard to the welfare of witnesses, will necessarily apply to others” too.

The letter from the nine generals published in The Times this week said: "By extending the same protections to those who enforced the law and those who defied it, the bill becomes morally incoherent.

"It treats those who upheld the peace and those who bombed and murdered in pursuit of political ends as equivalent actors in a shared tragedy."