SAS soldiers are not the ‘villains’ of the Northern Ireland conflict and should not be persecuted by those seeking to rewrite history, a former Armed Forces minister has insisted.
Labour’s Al Carns, a decorated ex-Special Forces officer himself, resigned from Sir Keir Starmer‘s government over defence spending and the party’s Troubles Bill.
The prospective legislation paves the way for troops to be subjected to legacy inquests and criminal investigation based on the Human Rights Act – written years after the Troubles.
Mr Carns, who championed the Troubles Bill before conducting a U-turn, has penned a foreword to The Special Air Service In Northern Ireland paper published on Tuesday by the Policy Exchange think-tank.
He wrote: ‘Every use of lethal force by the SAS was investigated at the time, and those who served were subject to the law. Where genuinely new and compelling evidence emerges, it should be examined.
‘What is unfair is to subject veterans to repeated investigations of the same events decades later simply because the process or legal standards have changed.’
He added: ‘No soldier should be above the law. Equally, no soldier should face endless legal jeopardy.
‘Accountability is not the same as perpetual investigation. Justice is not served when the process itself becomes the punishment.’
Former Armed Forces minister Al Carns said Labour’s Bill to protect British soldiers who served in Northern Ireland are not ‘villains’
The Government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill aims to establish a Legacy Commission to investigate killings during battles with Republicans and Loyalists as far back as 1969, tied to the promise of a package of protections for veterans (Pictured: Belfast, 1981)
Veterans have welcomed Carns’ recent stance on the Bill, though some former senior officers are sceptical since he had earlier supported the legislation.
The Daily Mail has long campaigned to protect SAS heroes from such witch hunts. Last week, Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed Labour’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill would be brought back to the House of Commons this autumn.
The Troubles Bill has been introduced by Labour to replace the previous Conservative government’s Legacy Act 2023 which offered conditional immunity for individuals involved in Troubles-related offences.
Labour’s alternative legislation removes those protections and establishes an investigative body – the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval – to explore whether any new evidence warrants the reopening of decades-old cases.
The Troubles Bill has passed its first and second readings in the House of Commons and is due to reach Committee stage.
Labour’s treatment of veterans remains hugely controversial, with the Special Air Service Regiment Association threatening legal action unless its members’ interests are recognised.
According to the Northern Ireland Office, the prospective legislation will ‘put in place a fair and transparent system that enables families of victims, including those who never came home from service, to seek answers’.
The Government also claims the Troubles Bill offers veterans six protections and safeguards that were not previously in place, including not having to attend legal hearings in Northern Ireland.
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