Veterans who served in the British Army during the Northern Ireland Troubles face “absolutely disgusting” treatment, protesters have said as they called for the retention of the Legacy Act.
More than 1,000 people gathered in Whitehall, central London, on Friday to protest against the Labour Government repealing key elements of The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.
The Act, introduced by the former Conservative government, halted scores of civil cases and inquests linked to the conflict and offered conditional immunity for perpetrators of Troubles crimes in exchange for their co-operation with a new truth recovery body.
But Labour now plans to axe the immunity provision and other key elements of the Act that would see the legacy inquests and civil cases return.
Many of the protesters, belonging to the Rolling Thunder group, drove black motorbikes through Westminster carrying military flags before gathering for speeches in Parliament Square.
Jack, 63, a flight sergeant from Lincolnshire who served in the military for 34 years, said veterans were “cast aside” with no provisions once their service ends.
Speaking at the protest, he told the PA news agency: “As a young man, when we signed off and pledged our allegiance to the military, we didn’t expect to be sold down the river by our government. It’s absolutely disgusting.
“Our message is stop trying to bring claims against soldiers that were merely doing their jobs. It’s outrageous.”
Jack added: “As young men, we were trained to follow orders, we were trained to be aggressive, and now we’re being prosecuted for it. It’s out of order.”
Ian Brown, 59, from Hertfordshire, said he wanted to prevent any future veterans from other war zones from being prosecuted by joining the protest.
He said: “We’re here to try and stop the Government, which is allowing the Northern Irish government to prosecute Northern Ireland veterans from when we went over there to do our job, which this government sent us over there (to do).
“The Irish are now trying to prosecute veterans, who are in their 70s and 80s, for crimes that happened while they were out there serving the country.”
Organisers said they intended to hold another protest in London in July.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The Government recognises the dedicated service of all our veterans and is committed to supporting the veteran community across the whole of the UK, ensuring they can access timely and effective support.
“The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland recently held meetings with veterans and their representatives to listen to their concerns.
“The Government remains committed to repealing and replacing the Legacy Act, and to implementing legacy mechanisms that are compliant with human rights and are supported by communities across Northern Ireland.”
