They risked their lives in Northern Ireland — and now face legal war from their own government, writes Mark Francois

This follows over 167,000 citizens signing the petition, in protest at plans by the Labour Government to change the law, which would allow our Army veterans to be pursued through the courts, often at the behest of Sinn Fein.

Hundreds of Veterans who served in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, on what the Army called “Operation Banner” are expected to descend on Westminster to express their anger at these proposals.

Their frustration is made worse by the wholly lopsided nature of what the Government is now proposing.

In essence, this is to change the law, to re-open a whole cycle of endless investigation and re-investigation of fatalities during the Troubles while, at the same time, making it easier for the likes of Gerry Adams to sue the British Taxpayer, for potentially hundreds of millions of pounds.

The veterans themselves have called this out, as “two-tier justice” - and they’re right.

At the heart of this issue is the Government’s obsession with the Human Righrs Act (HRA) 1998, which had the effect of incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in British law.

The HRA is now being utilised, to pursue those veterans who bravely defended us against violent terrorism, both Irish Republican and so-called Loyalist, during the decades of The Troubles.

Many of those British soldiers who served in the Province were recruited from what we would now call “red wall” constituencies, most of which currently have Labour MPs.

However, what most of those MPs are still blissfully unaware of, is that sometime this autumn they will be brutally whipped to vote for a “Remedial Order” - a Parliamentary device, under the auspices of the Human Rights Act, which will have two principal effects.

Firstly, the Remedial Order will remove key clauses from the Conservative inspired Northern Ireland Legacy Act, designed to protect our Op Banner veterans from endless pursuit via “lawfare”, often inspired by Sinn Fein.

The Royal British Legion has already expressed its concern about these proposals and the effect they may have on our veterans and their families.

When Sir David Davis, a former SAS reservist, raised their fears regarding this issue in the Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, he was given a dismissive reply by the Prime Minister - a Human Rights lawyer first and last and disciple of the Human Rights Act - who dismissed Davis’ attempt to defend the veterans as “political point scoring.”

Interestingly, the PM’s rebuttal was met with absolute silence on the benches behind him, as it finally began to dawn on Labour backbenchers what they were ultimately being asked to vote for.

Secondly, the Remedial Order would remove key clauses in the Legacy Act, which would then permit Gerry Adams and his associates to sue the Government (and thus ultimately the taxpayer) for potentially hundreds of millions of pounds.

Given the events of the last few weeks, with a humiliating and at times chaotic rebellion over benefit cuts and with another one already brewing on potential cuts to special educational needs provision, the prospect of then whipping Labour MPs to vote for “two-tier justice” in this way must fill many of them with horror.

How on earth would they be expected to go back to constituencies and explain that they had just voted to do down Army Veterans whilst at the same time doing Gerry Adams a favour - all in the name of the Human Rights Act?

Thanks to the active campaigning by the veterans themselves and the over 167,000 members of the public who signed the petition - effectively in their defence - we will have an opportunity to debate these issues, on the record in Parliament, on Monday afternoon.

The Government have many questions to answer that day, including why they are plainly failing to defend those who bravely defended us.

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The Rt Hon Mark Francois MP is the Shadow Armed Forces Minister & Member of Parliament for Rayleigh and Wickford

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