I knocked over a few milk bottles myself, says minister in call for Ulster amnesty

Conservative who served in Northern Ireland says Troubles veterans should be shielded from prosecution

A CONSERVATIVE defence minister who served in Northern Ireland has called for an amnesty to prevent Army veterans being pursued by “ambulance chasers”, admitting he would not want them “knocking on my door”.

Tobias Ellwood said he would not support any inquiry that could potentially lead to members of his former platoon facing historic allegations into old age, as he claimed that he himself had “knocked over a few milk bottles” during his deployment to the province.

It comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed last month that plans for an inquiry into the Troubles did not include an amnesty for British troops, despite calls for it to be time-limited to protect elderly veterans, some of whom are now in their 70s.

The issue has led to a Cabinet split and pitted Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, against Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland Secretary, whose department is leading a consultation on the inquiry.

While Mr Williamson has expressed “grave concern” that any inquiry without a statute of limitations risks descending into a witch hunt, Mrs Bradley has claimed that the inquiry must get to the truth and cannot just draw a “line in the sand”.

Mr Ellwood, a former Army captain who has been posted to multiple conflict zones, warned yesterday that the creation of a new unit could see veterans “in their 80s” being plagued by events which occurred decades ago.

“I served in Northern Ireland and was on operations over there. I knocked over a few milk bottles in my time there,” he told BBC Radio 5’s Pienaar’s Politics.

“I don’t want anyone knocking on my door... members of my platoon who I served with being asked questions of things that happened so many years ago. I hope common sense will then prevail... that cannot be how we look after our veterans.”

Mr Ellwood also warned that without an amnesty, the “horrible accusations” levelled against troops who served in

Iraq by “ambulance-chasing” lawyers could be repeated in Northern Ireland.

“It does make sense to draw a line at some point, to say that inquiries have taken place to their conclusion and unless there is compelling evidence put forward to a very high court, we then close the books on that particular matter,” he continued. “My view is that when you join the Armed Forces you do so for life. And when you depart... you remain inherently part of the Armed Forces community.

“We need to look after you. They need to know that there is a blanket of security that is there forever.”

Mr Ellwood is the latest senior Conservative MP to speak out on the issue, with Julian Lewis, the chairman of the Commons defence committee, also warning that failure to include an amnesty would be a “retrograde step”.

While Theresa May has described the situation as “patently unfair”, she has faced pressure from the DUP not to introduce a statute of limitations solely focused on events in Northern Ireland amid fears it could lead to pressure from the IRA to give an amnesty to terrorists.

Instead the DUP, which is keeping Mrs May’s Government afloat via a confidence and supply agreement, believes that a Uk-wide amnesty should shield all troops from prosecution. The Government’s receptiveness to such a proposal remains unclear, however.

Mechanisms to deal with the toxic legacy of the Troubles were agreed by Northern Ireland politicians in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement, but did not include an amnesty.

‘They need to know there is a blanket of security that is there forever’