Labour’s “betrayal” of military veterans will damage morale and harm recruitment just when the country needs to counter the threat from Russia, Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge has warned. The Government’s decision to scrap protections against “vexatious” prosecutions of veterans of the Troubles will “open the floodgates”, he claimed.
Labour started the process of replacing the Conservatives’ so-called Legacy Act in the Commons on Tuesday. The Tories’ law stopped historical inquests and prevented new civil cases being brought; the most controversial measure – struck down by Belfast’s High Court last year – granted condition immunity to anyone who cooperated with investigations into events during the Troubles.
Mr Cartlidge defended the Legacy Act, saying: “It meant our veterans could sleep soundly in their beds at night, knowing there wouldn’t be a knock on the door in the night, hauling them before the courts.”
Warning of the impact on the armed forces, he said: “Unquestionably, the threat to the UK militarily is the highest it’s been since the Cold War. We’ve had drones and planes flying into Nato airspace, a very serious situation.
“In that context you want your armed forces to be as strong as possible, we want morale to be high, we want people joining up, staying in the Army. Instead, what we’ve got is a threat to that morale because if you’re a soldier serving today you’re going to say to yourself: ‘If I go out to Ukraine on some kind of peace-keeping mission, should I fear what happens 30 years later when there is a knock at the door?’”
Mr Cartlidge expects “hundreds” of civil cases will be lodged, and he believes Irish republicans will attempt to use the process to score political points.
“A vexatious claim is one where essentially the person who is doing the hounding knows in reality there is a low chance of a conviction,” he said. “What they want to do is score a political point – and now unfortunately that’s at the expense of the Army.”
Describing Labour’s move as “absolutely a betrayal of veterans,” he said:
“The fact is the Army will effectively be back on trial and many people who are now in their 60s, 70s, or more, who served their country loyally back in the 1980s and 1990s etc will be back on trial. That, I’m afraid, given the threats we face, is a real setback for the British armed forces.”
He was unimpressed by measures to allow people to give evidence online rather than having to appear in person in Northern Ireland.
“If you are tried on Zoom as opposed to going in person you are still on trial,” he said. “You can still end up being sent, ultimately, for a criminal prosecution.”
Simon Barry, a retired Lieutenant Colonel with the Parachute Regiment, said the Government’s decision to repeal the Legacy Act had gone down “really, really badly”.
“We feel totally betrayed,” he said.
Labour’s plans will see the creation of a Legacy Commission to try and provide answers to what happened to people’s loved ones during the years of terrorism. Among the inquests will go ahead is one into the deaths of eight IRA men and a civilians who were killed by the SAS in Loughgall in Country Armagh in 1987.
Al Carns, Labour’s minister for the armed forces, defended the changes and insisted the new process would not become a “punishment” for veterans.
He said: “We promised our veterans who served with honour in Northern Ireland that we would put proper protections in place, and today’s legislation delivers on that commitment. After the false promises of the last government, we are putting in place six real, workable protections for veterans that the failed Legacy Act never did.
“We will not allow the process, like so many times before, to become the punishment for our veterans. Having served for 24 years and as a serving reservist myself, I understand the importance of avoiding an endless cycle of investigations.
“These robust safeguards will ensure the rights of those who served their nation so honourably are protected whilst providing families with a fair and transparent system to seek answers.”
