Skip to main content
Campaigners in Ireland hit out at Tory plans to introduce 10-year amnesty for British troops
Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt hoped new legislation would apply to cases from the Troubles where veterans are on trial over the murders of civilians
Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt (right) and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones leave a service at Wesminster Abbey last month in honour of Britain's nuclear weapons

CAMPAIGNERS in Ireland have hit out at attempts to introduce an amnesty that would stop the prosecution of troops for incidents that took place over a decade ago.

Newly appointed Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt hoped that new legislation would apply to cases from the Troubles where one ex-paratrooper is facing murder charges over Bloody Sunday, and another veteran is being prosecuted over the killing of an unarmed man who was shot in the back.

Ms Mordaunt said that she wanted to introduce “a wider solution for the veterans’ community” after she announced plans for a 10-year veterans’ amnesty covering Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
FINDING COMMON CAUSE: Supporters of the Irish rap group Kneecap outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London with London Irish Brigade solidarity placards for Mo Chara
Ireland / 9 March 2026
9 March 2026

AARON SMITH discusses why the Protestant diaspora are still part of Yeats’s ‘Indomitable Irishry’, and an integral part of any future united Ireland.

ALL IN A GOOD CAUSE: The statue of James Connolly in Dublin, designed by the sculptor Eamonn O'Doherty unveiled in 1996 was commissioned by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) / Pic: William Murphy/CC
Features / 30 October 2025
30 October 2025

A new group within the NEU is preparing the labour movement for a conversation on Irish unity by arguing that true liberation must be rooted in working-class solidarity and anti-sectarianism, writes ROBERT POOLE

A man walks past a banner for Feile an Phobail, also known as the West Belfast Festival, in the Falls Park, August 2022
Ireland / 30 July 2025
30 July 2025

Why not pay a visit to Feile an Phobail, a people’s festival of community arts with roots in the days of internment without trial, and where the spirit of solidarity remains undimmed, says LYNDA WALKER

ILLEGAL FROM THE START: British commandos in the south east region of Afghanistan, May 2002
Features / 20 June 2025
20 June 2025

As the cover-ups collapse, IAN SINCLAIR looks at the shocking testimony from British forces who would ‘go in and shoot everyone sleeping there’ during night raids — illegal, systematic murder spawned by an illegal invasion