The Household Cavalry Regimental Association has urged soldiers and veterans to oppose controversial government changes to legislation designed to protect veterans of Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill would repeal and replace the Legacy Act introduced by the previous Conservative government, ending the immunity scheme which was ruled unlawful in the courts.
Members of the Blues and Royals and the Life Guards have joined a cross-regimental campaign against the bill which the government argues is unlawful in parts. In co-ordinated emails sent this month, the regimental associations, which support serving personnel and veterans but rarely intervene in political matters, warned members that the bill before Parliament was “unfit for purpose and fails the very veterans it claims to protect”.
One of the emails said: “Our soldiers who operated under the law of armed conflict are now retrospectively being investigated through the lens of the European Convention on Human Rights, a different legal standard.
“Whilst no one is suggesting that any serving or former member of the armed forces who may have breached the Geneva [conventions], law of armed conflict or humanitarian law should not be held to account, they should not subsequently be investigated retrospectively under a different legal framework.”
Proposals to amend the law have been met with a significant backlash from veterans and campaigners, with a petition to block the move being signed more than 200,000 times.
Veterans’ Commissioners of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have all opposed the move, with one branding it “a continuation of the IRAs struggle by other means”.
The former Minister for Veterans’ Affairs addressed the Legacy Act in his resignation letter after quitting his role as Minister for the Armed Forces.
Al Carns said on June 11: “I have worked to fix the bill from the inside, but it remains unfit for purpose. It risks failing the very veterans it claims to protect.
“Men and women I served with, those I buried friends alongside, people who did their duty under conditions most individuals in Westminster will never have to imagine.”
A former lieutenant colonel in the Parachute Regiment branded the move as “a political act” designed to help the UK “cosy up” to the European Union.
Simon Barry said: “It is a political act and we’re coming to the conclusion that they want to cosy up to the Irish Republic, so the Irish Republic [will] help them cosy up to the EU.
“There’s no other earthly reason why you would want to do this, because it’s causing them a lot of trouble — a lot more trouble than I think they realised they were going to get.”
The UK government said: “We owe an immense debt to the veterans who served with distinction in Northern Ireland. The Troubles Bill is a vital step in righting the wrongs of the flawed Legacy Act.”
It said it had discussed with armed forces associations how historical issues can be “addressed in a way that treats those veterans who are asked to give information with the dignity that their service warrants”.