Veterans of the Troubles ‘were thrown to the wolves’

THERESA MAY has been accused of “pandering” to the IRA while throwing Northern Ireland veterans “to the wolves”.

The Prime Minister was criticised by her own MPS over her handling of investigations into veterans who served during the Troubles. In the Commons yesterday, Mark Francois cited a letter from an ex-royal Marine Chelsea pensioner under investigation for allegedly killing terrorists in the Seventies.

He said: “Why, Prime Minister, are you pandering to Sinn Fein and the IRA while throwing veterans to the wolves?” Last weekend’s Sunday Telegraph revealed Mrs May personally blocked ministers from proposing a new law that could have protected the veterans from facing murder charges.

A private letter sent on the Prime Minister’s behalf ordered that a government consultation on addressing unsolved murders during the Troubles “should not contain” proposals for a statute of limitations on historic prosecutions of military personnel.

Mrs May faced a number of questions about the issue during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday.

Iain Duncan Smith asked her how he could tell veterans that her Government had not “abandoned” them. The former Tory leader, a second lieutenant in the Scots Guards during the Troubles, said: “I, like many others, was ordered to serve in Northern Ireland to keep the peace from terrorists attacking civilians. Many of my colleagues did not come back, including one Robert Nairac, a friend who was tortured, murdered and his body has never been found, nor his murderers ever been brought to justice. None of those who served has called for an amnesty, what they have called for is fairness and justice. Many veterans now are finding, having been cleared decades ago, that the PSNI is proceeding against them with no new evidence.”

Mrs May said the work of the Army and police at that time had been crucial. “We absolutely value the service he and others did,” she said.

Tory MP Owen Paterson said former soldiers wanted assurances that veterans would get a fair trial. Mrs May said the system was not operating fairly and vowed to change it.