Ministers at war over new £150m Ulster witch-hunt
Defence Secretary vows to halt ‘chilling’ probes
MINISTERS were at war last night over plans to set up a £150million unit to investigate incidents during the Troubles.
Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt publicly backed an effective amnesty for veterans on the day that Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley was due to announce plans to set up the taxpayer-funded investigative body
The Government believes the Historical Investigations Unit will redress in the imbalance in previous probes that have focused on killings by soldiers rather than terrorists.
But Miss Mordaunt publicly backed an end to the ‘chilling’ investigations. She warned there was a ‘danger’ of the new unit becoming another Ihat – a reference to the controversial Iraq Historical Allegations Team probe into alleged incidents in Iraq.
Mrs Bradley’s announcement has been delayed amid concerns in No10 that the Government would then be ‘fighting two fronts at the same time’ because of the Brexit chaos.
Last night senior Tory MPs were gearing up for a showdown in the Commons over the issue, with former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon among those condemning the plans.
And yesterday the former head of the Army, General Lord Dannatt, said: ‘Soldiers did their duty, got up in the morning, sometimes they came under attack. They returned fire.
‘They didn’t set out to murder people. Terrorists set out every morning to murder people and successfully did so. There is a huge distinction to be drawn.’
Chelsea Pensioner David Griffin had a knock on the door from police more than six years ago.
He said of the new unit: ‘It is prolonging the agony for me after 48 years. I am now 78 and, who knows... I might walk down the road and drop dead.
‘Even though I’m innocent, this will be a black cloud still hanging over my family name. They really should draw a line after all these years.’
The former Royal Marine was questioned about the death of a man during the height of the Troubles in 1972.
The death will be one of 1,700 dating back to 1968 that will be examined by the new Historical Investigations Unit under plans that are now due to be announced next week. Sir Michael, who closed down Ihat following revelations in the Mail, said: ‘This new licensed witchhunt, funded at the taxpayer’s expense, will create a moral equivalence between their actions and those of terrorists who sought to do us harm. Our former servicemen and women are not civilians: they had a duty to the state.’
He said that if there was compelling new evidence they should be investigated but added: ‘Allies like France and the United States don’t treat their veterans like this.’
Yesterday Miss Mordaunt said she was determined to end the threat of repeated inquiries into alleged historical offences in Northern Ireland.
She said she wanted plans to strengthen the legal protections for military personnel who served in Iraq and Afghanistan to be extended to cover veterans of the Troubles. She wanted ‘statutory presumption’ against prosecution of troops for alleged offences committed more than ten years ago unless compelling new evidence emerges.
She said at the Royal United Services Institute in London: ‘It is a personal priority of mine that we get this resolved.’
The Royal Navy reservist and former aid secretary added: ‘I fear we are in danger of repeating what happened with Ihat.’
She said ‘what would not be understandable or forgivable is if we repeated that’.
The Mail – which has consistently called for an end to investigations against elderly former soldiers – revealed last week that the Northern Ireland Office is planning to publish the outcome of a consultation on the issue before introducing a bill.
Sources say that the five-year Historical Investigations Unit will deal with all the cases as quickly as possible then soldiers can get on with their lives.
But Tory MPs are preparing to mutiny over the proposals. And Lord Dannatt said peers would try to amend legislation to extend it to Northern Ireland when it comes to the Lords.
‘It is a personal priority of mine’
A SURVEY showing nearly two thirds of small business owners don’t believe the Government is on their side is devastating proof of how the Tory party is losing the confidence of even its most traditionally ardent supporters.
Small and medium firms are the lifeblood of the British economy. They were built through enterprise and initiative, by individuals determined to make their own way in the world.
They also employ huge numbers of people – 16.3million last year – and pay vast sums in taxes. They are the very embodiment of Conservative values.
So the fact so many have lost faith in the party that is their natural home should set alarm bells clanging in Downing Street.
It’s true, of course, that all businesses have benefited enormously from the slashing of corporation tax from 28 to 19 per cent since 2010. But other taxes have crept up and crippling business rates have contributed to a crisis on the high street.
As a new report says, the Government could significantly ease the burden on these beleaguered businesses by merely simplifying the system, which has become fiendishly and unnecessarily complex.
They suggest replacing the four existing taxes with a single turnover-based levy, a suggestion to which ministers have promised to give serious consideration.
For all its grievances, the business community must realise how much worse it would fare under a rapacious, hard-Left Corbyn regime. But that doesn’t excuse the Tories’ deplorable lack of action.
Being slightly more tolerable than an unreconstructed Marxist is hardly a ringing endorsement.
As Margaret Thatcher said before coming to power 40 years ago this month: ‘We want to be elected so that we can do better, not because we couldn’t possibly do worse.’