Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir Starmer to abandon plans to repeal immunity provisions in Northern Ireland legacy legislation, ahead of a Commons vote on the issue. The Tory leader urged the Prime Minister to protect veterans from prosecution for Troubles-related crimes.
The Government's proposals would remove measures from the Legacy Act that prevent prosecutions of veterans in exchange for information. This follows a High Court ruling in Belfast in 2024 that parts of the Act were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Badenoch said: 'We support our armed forces in every possible way. Later today, my party will vote to protect our veterans from unfair prosecution. He is ordering his MPs to vote against them.' She added: 'Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and vote in support of our veterans, not against them?'
Sir Keir Starmer responded that the previous government's legislation 'was struck down, leaving our veterans utterly exposed,' and that the Government is 'putting in place proper measures to protect them.' Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn later told the Commons the 2023 Legacy Act 'fundamentally failed' due to incompatibility with human rights obligations, and that repeals needed to happen quickly to build trust.
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart described the remedial order as a 'continuation of the Troubles by other means,' echoing Conservative MP Lincoln Jopp's view that it was a 'proxy war' to 'relitigate the question who won.'
