Anger of veterans at Ulster inquiry ‘treachery’
VETERANS reacted with fury last night after the Prime Minister pushed ahead with proposals to deal with the toxic legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles – without giving troops an amnesty.
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley launched a public consultation which excluded a chapter that would have limited investigations on hundreds of veterans, many now in their 60s and 70s.
The issue had earlier caused a Cabinet row with ministers concerned it would trigger a ‘witchhunt’. But the Government went ahead with the plans following pressure from Sinn Fein.
Hundreds of elderly veterans now face the prospect of being quizzed about their actions four decades ago. Under the proposals, as soon as a legacy unit is set up to look at all past killings, it will have five years to investigate incidents.
Northern Ireland sources say that means veterans won’t be facing probes for years to come.
But last night, Chelsea Pensioner David Griffin, 77, who was recently quizzed by police over the death of an IRA terrorist in an ambush in July 1972, accused the Government of ‘treachery’.
The former Royal Marine fired at the armed man in the heat of the battle to save his comrades, but is now being investigated four decades later because the police have not closed the case.
He said: ‘They (the Government) are putting the terrorists before us because they are scared to death the whole thing can start all over again. I’m just monumentally disappointed at the sheer treachery from the very top of our state. This is the 46th year I’ve had this hanging over my head.’
A group of backbench MPs will put pressure on the Government to reverse the plans during a debate on Northern Ireland next Tuesday.
They are calling for a statute of limitation which would stop the hounding of British war veterans. This would cover Northern Ireland, and also Iraq and Afghanistan.
A No 10 spokesman said: ‘As the Prime Minister has made clear, the current system in Northern Ireland isn’t working. That is why we are consulting to get everyone’s views on how we get it right.’