Editorial: Brave armed police officers do a dangerous, vital task and they deserve our thanks - as they did in the Troubles

​​It is extraordinary, but not surprising, that scores of Metropolitan police officers have stood down from their firearms duties.

They are protesting the fact that one of their colleagues is facing a murder trial. An unnamed officer was charged over the shooting of unarmed Chris Kaba, 24, who was killed in September last year in Streatham Hill, London.

This newspaper would never advocate people in such a critical role as armed police walking from their duties. Nor would we try to second guess a murder trial.

But if we take a sidestep from the details of that case, we only need to look at Northern Ireland to see how the security forces have been hounded retrospectively for their outstanding work in preventing murder and mayhem. Millions of pounds is being spent on inquiries and inquests that have been overwhelmingly into killings in which there are allegations against the state, such as the essential stopping of murdering IRA terrorists at places including Loughgall in 1987 and Coagh in 1991.

The real examination ought to be why these SAS actions to save life did not happen far earlier in the Troubles, as the UK public would demand today to stop extremist Islamist terrorist murderers. There should be a full investigation into the way in which so many people were murdered by the IRA over three decades as a result of the soft response of the UK state to known and repeat murderers.

Instead, a weak UK government and weak Labour opposition cowers at the thought of an Ireland that refused to extradite these murderers taking legal action against them in Europe over the Legacy Act.

The armed officers of the Troubles and the armed police in Great Britain deserve our praise and thanks.

Yet while Suella Braverman defends the vital, brave work of armed police in London, what about officers here – past and present?