Government’s appalling treatment of Northern Ireland Vets ‘imperilled the entire peace process’ says former minister
As many as 1,000 ex-servicemen will be viewed as manslaughter or murder suspects in the multi-million pound trawl that sparked fury among MPs
A FORMER Foreign Office Minister has declared that the Government’s appalling treatment of Northern Ireland Vets “imperilled the entire peace process” in the province.
Sir Henry Bellingham led a Parliamentary debate triggered by the Sun’s extraordinary witch hunt revelations – with the Government wheeling out a former NI vet, Minister Kris Hopkins, to respond.
In an electric speech in Westminster Hall, the Norfolk MP lashed out at “people in their 70s and 80s” being pursued on historic charges, branding it “a fundamental breach of the military covenant.”
Sir Henry called for an immediate end to the Legacy Investigation Branch of the Northern Irish Police saying: “I don’t want to see any more veterans dragged out of their retirement home.”
He claimed that the investigations have left veterans “staggered and flabbergasted” and there must not be “parity” between the actions of soldiers keeping the peace and terrorists.
And he heaped blame on Barra McGrory QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions in Northern Ireland — a former solicitor to IRA members.
Pointing out that Mr McGrory was the “the same person who represented Martin McGuinness”, he slammed him as “now the same person who is person who is prepared to move away from credible evidence to political decision making.”
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Former Defence Minister Sir Gerald Howarth piled in, branding the government’s response to the crisis “simply unacceptable”.
Responding in person, Northern Ireland Office Minister Kris Hopkins attempted to shift blame for the ongoing witch hunt to the Northern Irish Police.
Sir Gerald, who served in the MoD under David Cameron, hit out saying: “Ministers cannot pass responsibility to the police force, this is a matter of public policy.”
Mr Hopkins served in Northern Ireland with as a private in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment.
But Sir Gerald Howarth went on: “the people of Britain, and particularly those with whom he formerly served with in the armed forces, will expect Ministers to not to pass the buck to the police.”
Opening the debate, Sir Henry Bellingham said: “I was certainly taught a law school that one of the key tenets of criminal justice is the need for credible, current and collaborated evidence.
“These charges fly in the face of all the basic rules of criminal justice.
“We are seeing an outbreak of revisionism, you cannot simply revisit cases from 42 years ago and try and reinterpret them through the prism of the twenty first century with its emphasis on human rights.”
He continued: “We have got to find a way forward, see a scrapping of the Legacy Investigation Branch and I would suggest to the Minister, maybe he should look at what happened in South Africa.
“Look at the possibility of a truth and reconciliation committee and an amnesty that the South Africans set up so successfully.”
“The alternative does not bare thinking about. It would represent a betrayal of our armed forces, a tearing up of the military covenant and could also imperil the entire peace process.”
Sir Gerald Howarth warned that future generations of soldiers would stop serving in the armed forces if they thought “there was little “point of putting my life on the line” only to later face arrest.
Jim Shannon from the Democratic Unionist Party claimed that British Soldiers “have been thrown to the wolves.”
The DUP went on to attack: “political revisionism, trying to rewrite history and trying to shift the blame from the terrorists to those who served their country faithfully.”
They demanded “that the government ought to get a grip and say no more.”