Prosecutions of Troubles veterans will end under Reform UK plans to ‘match what was given to the IRA under Tony Blair‘.
The party said it would end the scandal of elderly British soldiers being ‘dragged in front of the courts for repeated and vexatious prosecutions’, while terrorists ‘walk free’.
The plan was unveiled days after Labour and Lib Dem MPs were accused of a ‘sickening betrayal’ of Northern Ireland veterans after MPs voted by 373 to 106 to remove conditional immunity granted by the Legacy Act.
Reform leader Nigel Farage – who will use a speech to hundreds of former soldiers in London on Monday to launch a veterans wing – intends to use the ‘royal prerogative of mercy’ to pardon convicted soldiers and end prosecutions that are under way.
The party will also legislate for ‘a statutory bar to end current, and prohibit further, proceedings against British veterans for historic conduct’, including civil actions and inquests. It said: ‘This will draw a line under a situation where terrorists have faced no consequences for their heinous actions, whilst veterans have been unfairly hounded.
‘This matches what was given to the IRA under Blair – they were released from prison, pardoned or given comfort letters, and even allowed to engage in frontline politics.’
Reform highlighted two cases of mistreatment of servicemen using so-called ‘lawfare’. Former paratrooper Soldier F was accused of murder during Bloody Sunday in 1972, but was in his 70s by the time it came to court, where he was acquitted.
Dennis Hutchings, of the Life Guards, was ‘hounded to his grave’ over the killing of John Cunningham in 1974. The case was reopened four times and he was arrested by armed police at 5am. He died from Covid during his 2021 trial.
Prosecutions of Troubles veterans will end under Reform UK plans to ‘match what was given to the IRA under Tony Blair’ (Pictured: Belfast, 1981)
Reform leader Nigel Farage will use a speech to hundreds of former soldiers in London on Monday to launch a veterans wing
Reform said it would introduce a requirement for defence secretaries to have to ‘consent to any future prosecutions of soldiers for any conduct on operations’.
These would also be dealt with by a court martial rather than civilian courts. It will also ‘leave the European Court of Human Rights, repeal the Human Rights Act and ensure a British Bill of Rights doesn’t apply extraterritorially to prevent human rights law applying to overseas combat’.
Armed Forces minister Al Carns said Reform had ‘no serious plan for protecting our veterans’. He claimed Labour was putting in place a system that would ensure ‘families – including families of murdered service personnel – can finally find answers’ and would create ‘genuine protections for Northern Ireland veterans’.
The Daily Mail is fighting for veterans’ rights in its Stop The SAS Betrayal campaign.
