Karen Bradley apologises for remarks on Troubles killings

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/07/karen-bradley-northern-ireland-troubles-urged-apologise-richard-dannatt

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The Northern Ireland secretary, Karen Bradley, has been forced to make a humiliating apology for the “offence and hurt” caused after she suggested deaths caused by soldiers and police during the Troubles were not crimes.

She issued a statement after her remarks prompted a backlash among families of victims of and calls for her resignation.She said: “Yesterday I made comments regarding the actions of soldiers during the Troubles. I want to apologise. I am profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt that my words have caused.

“The language was wrong and, even though this was not my intention, it was deeply insensitive to many of those who lost loved ones.”

Bradley’s comments came just a week before the Public Prosecution Service announces whether soldiers involved in the Bloody Sunday killings in 1972 will face prosecution.

Thirteen civilians on a civil rights march were killed after troops opened fire and another died of his injuries months later.

“I know from those families that I have met personally just how raw their pain is and I completely understand why they want to see justice properly delivered. I share that aim and that is why I launched the public consultation on addressing the legacy of the Troubles,” she said.

Bradley provoked widespread criticism on Wednesday when she said that “over 90% of the killings during the Troubles were at the hands of terrorists” and that “the under 10% that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes”.

Showing an apparent ignorance of basic law and of the history of Northern Ireland, Bloody Sunday and other incidents including allegations of collusion with paramilitaries and of shoot-to-kill policies, Bradley told the House of Commons that soldiers and police were “people acting under orders and instructions, fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way”.

Backtracking on this unequivocal statement, she said on Thursday that the government position was “clear” and that it believed “fundamentally in the rule of law”.

“Where there is any evidence of wrongdoing this should be pursued without fear or favour whoever the perpetrators might be. That is a principle that underpins our approach to dealing with legacy issues and it is one from which we will not depart,” she said.

Her remarks earned criticism from the former head of the British army. Lord Dannatt said she should apologise.

They also provoked criticism from nationalist political leaders.

Dannatt told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster he did not think Bradley should quit her post amid increased tensions over Brexit and the future of Northern Ireland.

“I think it’s unnecessary for her to resign, there’s enough confusion in our political world at the present moment,” he said. “I think it would not be unreasonable for her to offer an apology.”

He said the best way to right the situation was for her to return to the Commons to clarify her remarks.

Bradley, who was at a St Patrick’s Day dinner at the Irish embassy just hours after making the remarks, said on Wednesday night her comments were “inadvertent” and she did not intend to cause any offence or upset anybody.

Her remarks sparked an immediate backlash in Northern Ireland among the families of victims. John Kelly, whose teenage brother Michael was killed on Bloody Sunday, described them as “outrageous”.

“Karen Bradley needs to resign because she’s supposed to represent everybody, but she’s stuck two fingers up to the nationalist people that have been fighting for justice for years. But, we’ll never give up,” he said.

This is the second time Bradley, a May loyalist, has come a cropper over the history of Northern Ireland.

Last September, she came under fire after she said she was unaware that nationalists did not vote for unionists and that unionists did not vote for nationalists – the most elementary fact about Northern Ireland politics.