Ex-SAS chiefs accuse Labour of ‘torture by the State’ as Legacy Bill reopens Troubles investigations into veterans
Former senior military commanders have accused Labour of betraying British veterans and inflicting “torture by the State,” as the government’s Legacy Bill begins its passage through Parliament today.
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The legislation, alongside a related “Remedial Order,” could allow investigations into former soldiers to resume before Christmas, with some potentially back in court within months.
At the same time, campaigners warn the same measures could enable Gerry Adams and his associates to sue the British taxpayer for potentially hundreds of millions of pounds.
Shadow Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois accused Labour of turning its back on veterans, saying: “Labour’s shameful betrayal of our brave Army veterans, without whose service against terrorists there would never have been a Good Friday Agreement, begins its passage through Parliament today. A related motion, as confirmed in the Anglo-Irish Legacy Framework, will also allow Gerry Adams to recommence his lawsuit to sue the British taxpayer for ‘compensation.’ This is ‘two-tier’ justice of the worst kind, yet still Labour backbenchers will be whipped to vote for it by this Government of human rights lawyers.” Former senior military figures have joined in condemnation of the plans.
General Sir Nick Parker, Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces from 2010 to 2012, warned: “By reopening investigations, there is no genuine safeguard for veterans and it amounts to torture by the State of those who risked their lives following orders.
"This undermines morale, operational decisiveness, and the credibility of UK commitments to allies. Confidence in command is the foundation of security. You cannot defend tomorrow if you keep relitigating yesterday.”
Read more: Governments to publish framework to deal with legacy of NI Troubles
Read more: SAS veterans 'unjustly hounded', as 'hundreds face investigations' over service during the Troubles
Colonel Nick Kitson (Rtd), former Commanding Officer of 3 Rifles and SAS Squadron Commander, added: “It seems this Government has now confirmed it has no interest in standing by the past lawful actions of individuals in our Armed Forces, carried out under the policies of previous governments, when it doesn’t suit their current political or ideological agendas.
"This is a big blow for national security. How can anyone volunteer to put their life on the line for a government - indeed a nation - that does not have their back?”
Lt Colonel Richard Williams, former Commanding Officer of 22 SAS, said: “The veterans of Northern Ireland clearly have to endure yet more betrayal by false friends in government - and to what end? For who is this treachery conceived?
"And what message does this bonfire of trust send to those that serve today, and are thinking of joining tomorrow?”
The Bill’s progress comes as the Supreme Court begins hearing a separate Government appeal over a judicial ruling that found aspects of previous legacy legislation, introduced by the Conservatives, to be unlawful. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, who brought the challenge, said the case would examine “constitutional questions” linked to the Legacy Act and its relationship to the post-Brexit Windsor Framework.
While Labour has pledged to reform and replace the Tory-era legislation, Mr Benn argues the appeal is needed to clarify how rights protections are interpreted in Northern Ireland law.
The three-day hearing, before Lords Reed, Hodge, Lloyd-Jones, Hamblen and Stephens, centres on a Court of Appeal judgment that found the Legacy Act breached human rights laws and commitments made under the Good Friday Agreement.
Judges ruled that government control over sensitive disclosures to victims’ families was unlawful, and that the Act’s immunity provisions undermined victims’ rights. Victims’ groups have condemned the Government’s decision to press ahead with the appeal. Martina Dillon, whose husband Seamus was murdered in 1997, said: “The Government should not be fighting bereaved families in the courts.
"We’ve already endured years of delay and disappointment. It’s time the Government stopped defending this discredited law and started helping victims get the truth and accountability we’ve been denied for too long.
Legislation to repeal and replace the Legacy Act must be urgently introduced to protect our rights.”
Amnesty International’s deputy director in Northern Ireland, Grainne Teggart, branded it “deeply disappointing” that the Government had taken the case to the Supreme Court.
“The Court of Appeal judgment should have drawn a clear line under this discredited Legacy Act,” she said.
“Instead, the Government is dragging victims back to court, prolonging their suffering and defending the indefensible.”
The Labour government has promised to overhaul the Legacy Act through a new Anglo-Irish framework agreed with Dublin, including restoring inquests, removing immunity provisions, and restructuring the body overseeing legacy investigations.
But as the political and legal wrangling continues, veterans’ leaders warn that the damage to trust and morale could be lasting.
For many who served in Northern Ireland, today marks not a new beginning, but the reopening of old wounds.