Kemi Badenoch has apologised after footage from Bloody Sunday was used in a social media video to criticise a bill on legacy issues in Northern Ireland. The Conservative leader said she did not sign off on the video, which was sent out by 'very young people'.
The video, posted to Mrs Badenoch's social media channels on Tuesday, criticised the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. In the clip, Mrs Badenoch stated that the Labour Bill would 'drag' Troubles veterans back to court.
Foyle MP Colum Eastwood expressed his shock that Mrs Badenoch had posted a video 'trumpeting the service of British soldiers in Northern Ireland using footage from Bloody Sunday'. Thirteen unarmed civilians were shot dead when members of the Army's Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in the Bogside area of Londonderry on January 30 1972, an event known as Bloody Sunday.
The Conservative Party apologised on Friday for using the clips in its social media video, confirming that as soon as it was brought to its attention, the video was removed.
During a visit to a hairdresser in south-east London, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I have apologised. I did not sign off the video. It was about a vote in parliament where Labour are putting in legislation that is hounding the very elderly veterans for things that happened decades ago, often under the instruction of political leaders who are no longer around. We support our veterans, but the video was done by very young people who did not recognise the footage as being from Bloody Sunday. So I apologise as well that that video went out in error. It was removed as soon as the party understood that that was what had been put out.'
The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill aims to repeal and replace the controversial Legacy Act introduced by the previous Conservative government, ending the immunity scheme brought in under the law, which was ruled unlawful in the courts.
