NI Troubles legacy investigations 'rigged' against UK Armed Forces, claims MP

Damien Moore, the MP for Southport, made the claim during a debate at Westminster today concerning an e-petition relating to immunity for soldiers.

The petition calling on the government not to prosecute military personnel for their work in Northern Ireland and to prevent criminal investigations after a certain period of time was signed by more than 146,000 people.

Stressing that the vast majority of the more than 250,000 people who served in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner did so “with courage, professionalism and great distinction”, Mr Moore said: “It would appear that so far the entire process has been rigged against our Armed Forces and in favour of terrorist groups. That is not closure, nor is it justice. Terrorists and illegal paramilitary forces cannot and must not be viewed or treated equally to the police and Armed Forces as if they were somehow standing on a shared moral ground. They never have and they never will. Yet the current legal framework would have us believe that the words terrorist and servicemen and women, in the context of Northern Ireland, should be treated equally. They should not.”

Highlighting that there is “a disproportionately high number” of investigations into Troubles fatalities attributed to the Armed Forces, despite the vast majority of deaths being caused by terrorists, he added: “It is saddening and frustrating to see how little real effort has been put into persecuting the perpetrators of approximately 90% of the crimes committed. On the other hand, those who fought to preserve the state have been subject to multiple investigations, some of which started more than four decades ago.”

Expressing disappointment that the government’s proposed stronger legal protections for service personnel will exclude Northern Ireland, he added: “As representatives of the state ourselves we should do everything within our power so that they [veterans] do not live the last years of their lives in fear of repercussions for protecting our citizens, our values and our United Kingdom."

Mr Moore said any new legal protections must apply to those who served in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner.

His remarks were echoed by a number of MPs including the DUP’s Gavin Robinson and his party colleague Jim Shannon, a former member of the UDR and TA, who said the Government must “do right” by the veterans who served in Northern Ireland.

Earlier in the day, Tory MP James Heappey, a former Army officer, said the Government should call a halt to investigations into military veterans.

He was informed that a written ministerial statement on the subject is due to be tabled at Westminster tomorrow.

Meanwhile, former soldier and UUP MLA Doug Beattie MC has said the Government’s legacy strategy is “putting military veterans in an impossible position.”

He said a statute of limitations would “create an equivalence between the terrorists and state forces while at the same time creating a virtual de facto amnesty.”

“The Government are asking me to support a legacy direction I simply cannot in all conscience support. It would deliver more protections for the terrorists while denying victims and survivors any chance of truth and justice,” the Upper Bann MLA said.

“They play into the hands of the IRA and Sinn Fein who crave equivalence more than anything else, which will allow them a free hand to rewrite the Troubles narrative.”

Sinn Féin victims and legacy spokesperson Linda Dillon said “there can be no prospect of immunity for British soldiers guilty of crimes in Ireland.”