Keir Starmer was accused of surrendering British veterans of the Troubles to ‘politically motivated lawyers who are trying to rewrite history with a pack of lies’.
During tense exchanges in the Commons, former Tory Cabinet minister Sir David Davis urged the Prime Minister to think again about the decision to repeal the Northern Ireland Legacy Act, which was designed to end the witch-hunt against British veterans.
As a group of former soldiers looked on from the gallery, Sir David warned that failure to deal with the issue would leave ‘at least 50 innocent retired veterans exposed to legal persecution for crimes they did not commit’.
Sir Keir accused Sir David of ‘cheapening the debate’ and ‘political point scoring’.
Sir David shrugged off the insult, telling the Mail: ‘I’ve had responses like that from prime ministers before – it doesn’t bother me.
‘What is concerning is that he doesn’t have an answer and I think the silence from his backbenchers said it all.
‘For a government that claims to lionise people who help to defeat terrorism to then push in the way of the courts people who did even more to defeat terrorism seems a little bit inconsistent, to put it politely.’
Sir David also revealed that Sir Keir had cancelled a promised meeting with campaigners, adding: ‘He says he wants to work with people but there is no evidence of him working with us at all.’
Keir Starmer (pictured) was accused of surrendering British veterans of the Troubles to ‘politically motivated lawyers who are trying to rewrite history with a pack of lies’
Sir David Davis (pictured in April) urged the Prime Minister to think again about the decision to repeal the Northern Ireland Legacy Act, which was designed to end the witch-hunt against British veterans
British troops, in foreground, clash with demonstrators in a Catholic dominated area of Belfast, Northern Ireland, in May 1981
The Mail’s Stop the SAS Betrayal campaign is pressing the Government to halt the repeal of the Legacy Act or produce a proper alternative.
Senior military figures have warned Labour’s decision will revive the ‘witch-hunt’ against former soldiers – and undermine morale and recruitment.
Sir David said veterans who killed IRA terrorists while on duty faced ‘thorough investigations’ at the time and should not be dragged through the process again.
‘Our soldiers were held to the highest standards of law,’ he said.
‘The IRA were not: they tortured, shot men in the back, forced families to watch their menfolk being murdered, and killed women and children with bombs, yet we are willing to prosecute our own men, who were forced to make life-and-death decisions in split seconds.’
Sir David added: ‘Will the Government protect our veterans, or will they sacrifice them to politically motivated lawyers who are trying to rewrite history with a pack of lies?’
Sir Keir , who had opened Prime Minister’s Questions by paying tribute to the emergency workers who dealt with the 7/7 terror attacks, insisted the Government had no choice but to repeal the Legacy Act. He said the legislation had been thrown out by the courts and was ‘not supported by communities’.
‘We have to tread carefully and we have to get this right,’ he said.
He offered to work with Sir David and campaigners, but added: ‘We do not get there by cheapening the debate.’
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