Sir Keir Starmer has said the Government needs to “renew efforts” on tackling legacy issues, when asked about a court ruling that SAS soldiers were not justified in killing four IRA members in a 1992 ambush in Co Tyrone.
Conservative former minister Sir David Davis described such rulings as “partisan parodies of justice”.
Last month coroner Mr Justice Michael Humphreys found that the soldiers did not have an honest belief in the necessity of using lethal force.
Four Provisional IRA members – Kevin Barry O’Donnell, 21, Sean O’Farrell, 23, Peter Clancy, 19, and Daniel Vincent, 20 – were shot dead by the soldiers minutes after they had carried out a gun attack on Coalisland RUC station in February 1992.
Sir David said during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons: “Four weeks ago, the Northern Ireland coroner accused British soldiers of unlawful killing after they engaged with IRA would-be murderers.
“After careful reading, as far as I can see, this judgment is based on no evidence whatsoever.
“Over 100 Special Forces soldiers have been summoned before these inquiries, not one IRA leader has been summoned.
“Soldiers that serve our country with honour, heroism and skill are being punished in their declining years for doing nothing but carrying out their patriotic duty.”
He added: “Does (Prime Minister Sir Keir) not think that he and his Government have a duty to protect these soldiers from such partisan parodies of justice?”
Sir Keir declined to comment specifically on the findings of the Clonoe inquest, saying he has not “seen the details”.
The Prime Minister said: “On the broader point, it’s right that we should protect those who serve our country, wherever they serve our country, getting the balance right is critically important.
“I didn’t think that the legislation that was put forward by the party opposite achieved that but nonetheless, I do believe that in the interests of everybody in Northern Ireland, all those who served and all those who are victims, we do need to renew our efforts to find a way forward on this really important issue.”
In his ruling Mr Justice Humphreys said that no attempt was made by the soldiers to arrest any of the members of the IRA unit and the operation was not planned and controlled in a way to minimise to the “greatest extent possible” the need to use lethal force.
He said that in his statement, one of the soldiers claimed he opened fire when he believed those in the lorry were about to open fire on the patrol, however, he found that the IRA members were attempting to descend the lorry and run away and they could not have posed a threat.
It found that one of those killed – Mr O’Donnell – was shot in the back while attempting to flee and then again in the face while lying incapacitated on the ground.
In February First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who grew up in Clonoe, welcomed the judgment and said it “confirmed what the community already knew”.
Responding to Tory and Reform MPs who have criticised the ruling previously, she said: “These were Tories that were prepared to protect those in the British government, at the highest echelons of the British government, that actually killed Irish citizens.
“So I don’t think we’ll take any lectures from any of the Tories in London.”
The Labour Government is committed to repealing the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.
The Act, introduced by the former Conservative government, halted scores of civil cases and inquests and proposed conditional immunity for perpetrators of Troubles crimes in exchange for their co-operation with a new truth recovery body.
The Act was opposed by victims’ groups in Northern Ireland and all the main political parties at Stormont.
