Karen Bradley facing continued resignation calls despite apology

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, is facing continued calls for her resignation despite issuing a humiliating apology for saying that deaths caused by police and soldiers during the Troubles were not crimes.

Relatives of victims and Northern Ireland’s first police ombudsman said her remarks demonstrated such ignorance of history that she had no credible future as secretary of state.

They also accused Bradley of trying to interfere with a decision, expected next week, on whether to prosecute soldiers involved in the killing of 14 civilians on Bloody Sunday in 1972.

Bradley has continued to be criticised for remarks in the House of Commons on Wednesday when she said “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 the history of Northern Ireland, Bloody Sunday and other incidents, including allegations of collusion with paramilitaries and shoot-to-kill policies, Bradley told the House of Commons soldiers and police were “people acting under orders and instructions, fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way”.

She later sought to clarify her remarks in the Commons without issuing an apology. But on Thursday she issued a full apology saying: “I am profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt that my words have caused.”

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

John Kelly, whose teenage brother Michael, was killed on Bloody Sunday, said Bradley’s apology was “too little too late”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One he said: “She is damaged goods, there is no point in her staying any longer and she should go. When I heard it I was very very angry and I could not believe what she was saying. It was an outrageous statement, it insulted my brother’s memory and it insulted everybody who died on Bloody Sunday.”

He added: “It showed her true colours and true feelings in relation to the role of the British army here in the north.”

Kelly also accused her of trying to influence next week’s decision. He said: “She was trying to interfere with the due process of law, trying to put pressure on the PPS [Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland] not to prosecute these soldiers. Next week we will know whether there will be prosecutions or not, I believe she was trying to influence the decision of the PPS.”

John Teggart, whose father Daniel was killed in the Ballymurphy massacre in 1971 told reporters that Bradley had “caused deep hurt”.

Speaking in front of other relatives of the victims he said: “She insulted the families yesterday. She spoke of how she felt, she wasn’t reading from a script when she said the crimes in Ballymurphy were not crimes. Her apology is too little, too late.”

Dame Nuala O’Loan, the former police ombudsman for Northern Ireland who survived a bomb attack in 1977 and is chairing an investigation into allegations of police involvement of the 1987 murder of Daniel Morgan, said Bradley had shown “total disregard for the rule of law”.

O’Loan said Bradley’s remarks showed “a mindset which is incompatible with the office of secretary of state”.

She added: “She doesn’t understand the history of Northern Ireland … the extent to which police officers and members of the military were involved in crime and have been convicted of crime.”

O’Loan said she had never before publicly called for the resignation of anyone, but said Bradley should be fired if she refused to quit.

She added: “My message to the prime minister is very simple. It is incomprehensible that anyone with the responsibilities given to Karen Bradley should comment in these terms. She should be asked to resign and if she refuses I ask you as prime minister to remove her as secretary of state.”

Bradley, who was at a gala 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.

This is the second time Bradley, a Theresa May loyalist, has been criticised over a lack of knowledge about 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 – a widely known feature of Northern Ireland politics.