Exclusive: Special Forces veterans break cover over plans to repeal N Ireland Legacy Act
It's exceptionally rare for Britain's Special Forces community to speak publicly – but the strength of feeling over the proposed changes to the Legacy Act has brought all three elite units together under one banner.
The secretary of the SAS Regimental Association has spoken exclusively to BFBS Forces News about Project Verity, a new nationwide campaign launched by veterans of the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service and Special Reconnaissance Regiment.
UK Special Forces are known for operating around the world, training for extreme threats and standing ready to respond wherever they're needed.
Nobody trying to dodge responsibility
Speaking to BFBS Forces News, the secretary of the SAS Regimental Association said: "We have never said where wrongdoing is suspected, or there is evidence that, you know, nobody is trying to dodge their responsibility. That's not the case here.
"What... we find galling as service personnel that the balance in the Northern Ireland Troubles Act as is, is always more towards IRA, Sinn Fein sensitivities rather than sensitivities and the needs of the veterans."
Those behind Project Verity say choosing to break the traditional code of silence and speak openly about this issue shows just how strongly many veterans feel. They argue that the Government has forgotten the duty of care owed to those who served.
The information campaign seeks to educate parliamentarians and the public on Special Forces activities during the Troubles, correct a perceived narrative of wrongdoing and combat so-called "lawfare" activities such as the re-opening of historic cases, like the trial of Soldier F.
A moral contract
The secretary continued: "With the contract, the moral contract, the spiritual contract, however you want to describe it, the idea being that as an individual, you volunteer to do the work, you're happy to do the work.
"But what you expect in return is that when that work has been completed, on behalf of the country, for the national interest, for the defence of the realm, for the protection of our citizens, that the Government will then at least... have in place policies that will protect those individuals and those service people, our veterans, you know, from legacy-type investigations five, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 years later.
"I mean, I think it's just common sense or fairness, you know, that that's what we are struggling with now as an organisation."
The point of the spear
Speaking last month on the website justiceforveterans.uk, former 22 SAS Squadron Commander Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton said those missions came with significant personal risk.
"I went out and did it in the dead of night, extreme dangers to myself and the guys... the SAS is the point of the spear," he said.
"And there's that great long shaft of everybody right up to the political level who have authorised our operations. Getting persecuted, look over my shoulder, where are they? They're not there."
Major (Ret'd) Lowther-Pinkerton is one of many people in the Special Forces community who say they feel outraged and betrayed by planned changes to the 2023 Northern Ireland Legacy Act.
Veterans of the Troubles fear the new proposals could leave them open to unfair prosecution decades after the events in question.
The Government insists that protections for veterans are included in the latest proposals.
But for many within the Special Forces community, those assurances have not been enough to ease concerns about being taken to court over incidents that happened decades ago.
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