Ex-UK Armed Forces Minister Al Carns calls for end to 'perpetual investigations' into SAS
Former UK Armed Forces Minister Al Carns has written the foreword to a new report calling for an end to "perpetual investigations" into SAS soldiers who served during the Troubles - while affirming that neither should they be "above the law".
Mr Carns resigned as armed forces minister in June due to concerns over the defence budget, and his view that Labour’s Troubles Bill is unfit for purpose.
He has been largely credited with stopping the bill’s progress through Parliament via behind the scenes pressure.
Speaking to GB News in June, Mr Carns said the government is “creating a hierarchy of truth in Northern Ireland”.
Now the former Royal Marines colonel has backed a report by the Conservative-leaning think tank, Policy Exchange, which is pressing Andy Burnham's new government to think again on his Troubles legacy plans.
“This paper challenges a persistent narrative in which the SAS has too often been cast as the villain,” Mr Carns said in the foreword to the report, which features testimony from over a dozen former SAS soldiers.
“It makes a powerful case that those who served helped counter the IRA, protect life and create the conditions for political settlement.”
He adds: “No soldier should be above the law. Equally, no soldier should face endless legal jeopardy.
“Accountability is not the same as perpetual investigation. Justice is not served when the process itself becomes the punishment. That is why this paper matters. It gives voice to men who were there, making decisions almost impossible to recreate 40 or 50 years later.”
The publication of his comments comes only days after Prime Minister Mr Burnham said that the Labour government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill would be brought back to Parliament in the autumn.
Last year, the government, then led by Sir Keir Starmer, made several commitments as part of a joint framework with the Irish government on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles.
This included giving Dublin a significant oversight role of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which investigates Troubles deaths
The Labour government’s legislation is aiming to replace the controversial legacy act brought in by the previous Conservative government.
Another senior Labour figure has also come out against Mr Burnham's plans.
Labour peer Lord (Maurice) Glasman, also writing in the report, says: “We owe a debt of great gratitude to the veterans of the SAS who served in the long deployment in Northern Ireland.
“They served with great courage and honour in extremely dangerous and violent conditions. It is a breach of our military covenant that veterans are investigated and prosecuted in their old age because of an understanding of the law that did not exist when they were active.
“This is demoralising ‘The Regiment’ and leading to severe problems in recruitment.”
The report carries interviews with over a dozen SAS veterans who say that their successes against the IRA helped convince republicans that violence could not succeed.
It also says that by 2017, veterans accounted for 30% of legacy investigations, despite the Army being responsible for only 8% of Troubles deaths.
A government spokeswoman responded that there is “no question of needless repeat investigations or of any veteran being prosecuted for having followed the rules”. The Conservative government’s Legacy Act offered immunity to terrorists and “left our veterans exposed” she added.
The Labour bill aims to fix that broken system, with a reformed Legacy Commission to help families get answers.
"There was no equivalence between the lawful service of our veterans and the sickening deliberate actions of the terrorists. We will make that clear in the Bill, and introduce a package of new, effective and lawful protections for our former service personnel.”