PM Criticises 'Flawed' Troubles Legacy Investigations

Prime Minister Theresa May has branded the investigations into Northern Ireland's past as a flawed process that places too much emphasis on the armed forces.

She made the comments in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 24 October, during Prime Minister's Questions, after Sir Henry Bellingham suggested that military veterans who had already been investigated should never be "hounded or pursued", without overwhelming fresh evidence.

Mr Bellingham was one of a group of MPs who signed a letter to Mrs May this week calling for an end to investigations of soldiers who served during the Troubles.

In her response, Mrs May said: "We owe a vast debt of gratitude to the heroism and bravery of soldiers and police officers who upheld the rule of law and were themselves accountable to it, something which will always set them apart from and above the terrorists who were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of members of society."

The Prime Minister added that the current system for these investigations in Northern Ireland is not working for soldiers, for police officers or for victims, and also said that many police officers and soldiers are included in the category of 'victims'.

She said: "While a number of terrorist murders from the Troubles are actively under investigation by the PSNI and other police forces, I am clear that, under current mechanisms for investigating the past, there is a disproportionate focus on former members of the armed forces and the police."

Earlier this year, Mrs May said the current system for investigating soldiers and police was "patently unfair", and also claimed that terrorists were not being investigated.

Previous PSNI figures revealed that 30% of their legacy workload was directed at killings by the Army, with the remainder concerning loyalists or republicans.

Sinn Fein victims spokesperson Linda Dillon said the Prime Minister should "stop pedalling the fallacy" that the legacy process is skewed against British state forces.

"Once again, the British Prime Minister has caused great hurt and upset to the families of victims of state violence by regurgitating that myth," the Mid Ulster MLA said.

"That assertion is simply untrue, as has been evidenced by the facts published by the Director of the Public Prosecution Service and the PSNI."

Mrs Dillon also accused the Conservative party leader of promoting a narrative inspired by the DUP and former British soldiers who "do not want Britain's crimes in Ireland to be investigated".



(JG/CM)