Danny votes to protect veterans

Danny says:

"I understand why this issue has caused anger and anxiety among many veterans, particularly given the painful legacy of the Troubles and the extraordinarily difficult and dangerous circumstances in which so many served.

"The way this issue has been presented has understandably caused immense distress among the veteran community. I want to be clear about why I voted the way I did, because I believe the vote was actually about protecting veterans, not undermining them.

"Wednesday’s vote was not to introduce new legislation, and it was not a vote to remove protections from veterans. It was a vote on a ‘Remedial Order’, a narrow technical measure to correct the wording of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 after the High Court in Belfast ruled key provisions unlawful.

"The judgment from the High Court was handed down in February 2024. From that point on, the Legacy Act’s ‘conditional immunity’ provisions were unlawful and had never come into force. They were protecting no veterans at the time of last Wednesday’s vote because the provisions were not legally in effect. The Remedial Order did not reopen cases, lower evidential thresholds, invite new claims, or worsen the position of any former service member. Let me be absolutely clear: because those provisions were unlawful and uncommenced, the 2023 Act gave veterans no genuine legal immunity nor protection.

"The vote mattered because it struck-down language that created a deeply offensive moral and legal equivalence between terrorists and British service personnel by seeking (albeit unlawfully) to extend blanket immunity to both. That equivalence was wrong in law, wrong morally, and wrong in principle. Removing it matters.

"In voting for the Remedial Order,  we voted to uphold the rule of law and end that disgraceful equivalence by removing the unlawful provisions that had sought to grant blanket immunity even to the most violent of terrorists.

"We now need to make sure the Government listens to Liberal Democrat calls for genuine, lawful protections for veterans. My colleague, and Northern Ireland spokesperson, Paul Kohler MP led on this debate for us and I recommend reading his speech which will give you a fuller understanding of the Liberal Democrat position, including why we voted the way we did. You can read it here.

"Furthermore, Paul has tabled new clauses and amendments to the Government's legislation to replace the Legacy Act which would guarantee our veterans are treated fairly and never again equated with terrorists by addressing the demands made by Veterans,   Associations. They include protecting the rights of veterans to anonymity, to have full welfare support and to have access to an independent reviewer of their safeguards. You can read them in full by accessing the Amendment Paper here.

"The Liberal Democrats have consistently supported proper legal protections for veterans - not the Tories’ false promises that the courts have already struck down as unlawful. We believe those who served with honour in Northern Ireland deserve genuine safeguards, not unlawful and uncommenced immunity provisions that put them in the same category as terrorists and provided only illusory protections that never came into force.

"More broadly and outside the scope of the Troubles, the Liberal Democrats are committed to ensuring all veterans receive the support and recognition they deserve. We believe that veterans are being let down - it is a scandal that those who put their lives on the line in defence of our country too frequently fall through gaps in support.

"We have called for a fair deal for our veterans and military personnel, including improvements to military housing and compensation, and the establishment of a Fair Deal for Service Personnel, Veterans and Families Commission to ensure that everyone who has stood in defence of our nation is rewarded and properly supported. Our recent campaigning secured a commitment from the Government to assess family military homes according to the Decent Homes Standard - the very least our service personnel deserve.

“I have always been proud to support our veterans and I remain committed to ensuring they receive the recognition and protection they deserve.”