Rt. Hon. Karen Bradley MP and Northern Ireland Legacy issues

Updated 14 March 2019

Rt. Hon Karen Bradley MP is Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office.  The post leads on political stability and relations with the Northern Ireland Executive, National security and counter-terrorism, Implementation of the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements including legacy of the past.

Given the long history of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland ("The Troubles"), the post clearly requires a high degree of political sensitivity.  There are numerous legacy issues to be addressed including the on-going aftermath of what came to be known as "Bloody Sunday" on 30 January 1972 when the Army shot 28 civilians.  13 were killed outright and one more died of his injuries at a later date.

The Widgery Inquiry reported in April 1972 and reached controversial conclusions.  In January 1998, on the eve of the 26th anniversary of Bloody Sunday,  Prime Minister Blair announced a new inquiry, criticising the rushed process in which Widgery failed to take evidence from those wounded and did not personally read eyewitness accounts.  The resulting Inquiry, under the Chairmanship of Lord Saville of Newdigate, lasted 12 years before reporting on 15 June 2010 - see previous post 15 June 2010. The inquiry stated - "Our overall conclusion is that there was a serious and widespread loss of fire discipline among the soldiers of Support Company." - (Report Volume I Ch. 5 para 5.4).  Notably, following publication of the report, Prime Minister Cameron made an apology - BBC News 15 June 2010 - stating - "the conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong."

An announcement is expected in the near future as to whether any of the soldiers involved in Bloody Sunday will be prosecuted for any offences allegedly committed that day - BBC News 6 March 2019. Any prosecutions will, in themselves, be particularly controversial.   For example, a statement by Bob Seely MP comments - "... No one will be satisfied by the trials. Soldiers will feel betrayed by politicians. The families of the Bloody Sunday dead face failed prosecutions. The trials will open up old wounds in the province ..... Those accused will be treated as martyrs or murderers. The trials may provide justification for further acts of violence by dissident republicans. The only winners will be lawyers. The original Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday cost £200 million. The Iraq Historic Allegations Team cost £30 million. Nearly a quarter of a billion pounds for both; what a staggering use of public money."

This is just some of the background to the difficult legacy situation in Northern Ireland.  The 2014 Stormont House Agreement included a requirement to set up legacy institutions:

• the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU)
• the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (ICIR)
• the Oral History Archive (OHA)
• the Implementation and Reconciliation Group (IRG)

The government consulted in 2018 about implementation of the Stormont House Agreement and some 17,000 responses are being considered - (see Hansard 6 March 2019 Col 945 - answer of Karen Bradley to question by Dan Jarvis MP).

Returning to Karen Bradley.  On 6 March she was answering Northern Ireland questions in the House of Commons - Hansard Debate.  Emma Pengelly MP (Belfast South) asked - "Well over 90% of the murders and injuries caused during the troubles in Northern Ireland were caused by acts of terrorism. Very few prosecutions and investigations are under way and innocent victims are being left behind, with thousands of unsolved cases. When will the Secretary of State address that issue and put in place a mechanism to investigate the acts of terrorism—over 90%—that caused those murders and injuries?"

Karen Bradley replied - "The hon. Lady sets out the figures very powerfully—over 90% of the killings during the troubles were at the hands of terrorists. Every single one of those was a crime. The under 10% that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes; they were people acting under orders and instructions, fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way. I look forward to working with her more to ensure that we can deliver the much-needed reforms and changes that we all want to see ...."  [My emphasis].

Later in the day Karen Bradley told the Commons - " I wish to clarify the comments I made earlier today to the House during Northern Ireland questions in response to a question raised by the hon. Member for Belfast South (Emma Little Pengelly), which I believe may have been open to misinterpretation.

At oral questions, I referred to deaths during the troubles caused by members of the security forces. The point I was seeking to convey was that the overwhelming majority of those who served carried out their duties with courage, professionalism, integrity and within the law. I was not referring to any specific cases, but expressing a general view. Of course, where there is evidence of wrongdoing it should always be investigated, whoever is responsible. These are of course matters for the police and prosecuting authorities who are independent of government."

The statement that some killings were not crimes has unsurprisingly caused considerable concern and the Irish Times 6 March summarised some of the reaction including the view of Paul O’Connor of the Pat Finucane Centre in Derry.  He said that Ms Bradley had “usurped the authority and independence of the Public Prosecution Service”. He also commented that the Northern Ireland Office needed reminding “that a number of prosecutions of former soldiers are on-going, others are pending and her remarks are therefore potentially an unacceptable interference in legal processes that are before the courts”.

Amid calls for he resignation, Karen Bradley has apologised for the comment - RTE 7 March 2019 . Bradley's remark was ill-considered and insensitive but it seems obviously doubtful that there was any intention to try to influence a prosecutorial decision even though concern exists in some quarters that the remarks could undermine the legal process undertaken by families of Bloody Sunday who are waiting to hear ... if a case will be taken against British paratroopers and others.

It remains to be seen what, if any, further developments take place.

The Prime Minister - Further legislation being considered?

At Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs May said - "We have been clear that the current system for dealing with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past is not working well for anyone. Around 3,500 people were killed in the troubles; 90% were murdered by terrorists. Many of these cases require further investigation, including the deaths of hundreds of members of the security forces. The system to investigate the past does need to change to provide better outcomes for victims and survivors of the troubles, but also to ensure that our armed forces and police officers are not unfairly treated. That is why we are working across Government on proposals to see how best we can move forward. We are carefully considering the very large number of responses that we received to the consultation on this issue. We will be publishing our next steps in due course and the MOD is looking at what more can be done to ensure that service personnel are not unfairly pursued through the courts, including considering legislation."

Media:

The Guardian 11 March - In need of a wizard: Northern Ireland gets blundering Bradley

" ... few in Stormont think her departure would solve much. Northern Ireland has had no functioning elected government since power sharing between the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) and Sinn Féin collapsed in January 2017. Civil servants are left to run things but cannot make key decisions."

BBC News 7 March 2019

Analysis: BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport

The latest comments from Karen Bradley come at a particularly sensitive time, as an announcement is expected soon on whether any prosecutions will be brought in relation to the infamous Bloody Sunday killings.

Campaigners for victims of state violence in Northern Ireland were quick to slam the secretary of state's comment that the security forces involved in killings were "fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way".

Perhaps Mrs Bradley meant to use those words about soldiers and police officers who were found to have acted within the army's rules of engagement, but as she delivered her remarks in the Commons she appeared to be granting absolution to all security force personnel regardless of the circumstances.
Whatever the case, there's no doubt that as the Bloody Sunday announcement draws closer, the government is under pressure from many of its own backbenchers and DUP MPs angered over what they regard as a "witch hunt" directed at military veterans.

Less than an hour after Mrs Bradley spoke, Theresa May was on her feet dealing with the same issue, and confirming that the Ministry of Defence is considering potential legislation designed to ensure - in the prime minister's words that "service personnel are not unfairly pursued through the courts".
However as those proposals are drawn up, you can expect they will provoke renewed controversy on either side of the debate over Northern Ireland's troubled past."

Update 14 March 2019:

One former soldier - "Soldier F" - is to be prosecuted in connection with Bloody Sunday - BBC News Northern Ireland