Bryant promises veteran protections

Northern Ireland secretary Sir Chris Bryant says amendments coming to parliament on Monday will protect UK armed forces veterans from prosecution over Troubles-era actions.

Labour removes Conservative protections

Labour's new Troubles Bill removes immunity protections that the 2023 Conservative Legacy Act gave to armed forces veterans and former paramilitaries who disclosed information.

Veterans fear repeated legal action

Soldiers call the risk of repeated prosecutions lawfare. Bryant's amendments will prevent what veterans term rinse and repeat efforts by families to reuse courts against them.

No equivalence with terrorists

Bryant insists soldiers will not be treated like militants, saying the bill will state there is no equivalence between lawful British security forces action and deliberate terrorist acts.

“What we are going to say in the bill is that there is no equivalence between the lawful action of brave British security forces and the deliberate acts of terrorists.”

Operation Banner scale

More than three hundred thousand armed forces served under Operation Banner, the three-decade UK military deployment in Northern Ireland running from the nineteen seventies to the nineteen nineties.

Previous rulings become final

Bryant explains that past court rulings and coroner's findings will be treated as final unless compelling new evidence emerges. The Legacy Commission cannot repeat processes already undergone elsewhere.

Operational context now matters

The amended law will require that the operational context in which a veteran was functioning be taken into account, protecting soldiers from legal jeopardy over split-second conflict decisions.

SAS commander awaits detail

David, commander of an SAS unit that killed three IRA paramilitaries on Coagh, County Tyrone in nineteen ninety-one, says the devil will be in the detail and urges the government not to rush.

“Hasty law is almost always bad law and we urge the government to take its time to get it right rather than rush to get it wrong.”

Answers for all sides

Bryant says the legislation aims to find answers for people on all sides who lost someone in the conflict, including families of victims of terrorism and unacknowledged killings.