Now that parliament has returned, the government has questions to answer about its approach to the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Will it, under the new prime minister, continue with the previous government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill?
It should not. The Bill makes a bad situation worse. Instead, Andy Burnham should take the opportunity to adopt a fresh approach to securing reconciliation in Northern Ireland: drawing a line under the past for everyone and ending the injustice which is being inflicted on veterans and will be aggravated if the Troubles Bill is enacted.
The issues involved are the subject of a new Policy Exchange paper, The Special Air Service in Northern Ireland, published today, of which I am one of the authors. The report focuses on the role, during the Troubles, of the Special Air Service (SAS), who were deployed to Northern Ireland in 1976. The evidence collected in the report demonstrates that members of the SAS acted under close civilian control and were both subject to, and committed to complying with, rules of engagement that were tightly framed to reflect the requirements of the ordinary law.
The new government should not accept that its hands are tied by the law
