The Troubles Bill Achieves Nothing — and Ongoing Lawfare Risks Everything

By 9 retired 4* o-icers of the British Armed Forces1.

Having held the honour of leading the United Kingdom’s Armed Forces, we do not speak out
lightly. Yet on Armistice Day we feel bound to warn that the Government’s Northern Ireland
Troubles Bill, and the legal activism surrounding it, risk weakening the moral foundations and
operational e-ectiveness of the forces on which this nation depends. Presented as a route to
justice and closure, the Bill achieves neither. It will not bring terrorists to account; it will not heal
division in Northern Ireland; and it undermines the confidence of those who volunteer to serve
this country at its request and under its authority. This lawfare is a direct threat to National
Security.
No member of the Armed Forces received a “letter of comfort” after the Good Friday Agreement.
What they relied upon was far stronger: the belief that if they acted within the law, under proper
orders and in good faith, the nation would stand by them. This Bill tears up that compact. Be
clear, those who served in Northern Ireland do not seek immunity, they simply seek fairness —
the recognition that there is a fundamental di-erence between legitimate authority and
illegitimate violence. To erase that distinction weakens the moral authority of the State.
By extending the same protections to those who enforced the law and those who defied it, the
Bill becomes morally incoherent. It treats those who upheld the peace and those who bombed
and murdered in pursuit of political ends as equivalent actors in a shared tragedy. That is not
reconciliation; it is abdication of responsibility. Trust between the State and the individual who
serves it is the cornerstone of military e-ectiveness. If servicemen and women begin to doubt,
when they believe that lawful actions taken in the service of the Crown will one day be reexamined
in the misplaced light of hindsight, then recruitment, retention and morale will su-er.
Contrary to recent ministerial assurances, highly trained members of special forces are already
leaving the service. These are the men and women who quietly neutralise threats and protect
lives every week. Their loss is significant; it is a direct consequence of legal uncertainty and the
erosion of trust. This is a corrosive form of “lawfare” — the use of legal processes to fight
political or ideological battles — which now extends far beyond Northern Ireland. Today every
deployed member of the British Armed Forces must consider not only the enemy in front but the
lawyer behind. The fear that lawful actions may later be judged unlawful will paralyse decisionmaking,
distort rules of engagement and deter initiative. We will lose our fighting edge at exactly
the moment it is most needed. And make no mistake, our closest allies are watching uneasily,
and our enemies will be rubbing their hands.
The Prime Minister and Attorney General must recognise that an ever-broadening interpretation
of the European Convention on Human Rights is being used against those who act under lawful
authority of the Crown. The State owes its servants more than political reassurance it must
ensure that those who apply necessary force on behalf of the nation are not left to face the
consequences alone.
The Government must restore legal clarity, rea-irm the law of armed conflict, deviate from the
application of the ECHR, the Human Rights Act and relevant international conventions and 
ensure those who act under lawful authority are protected. A new, honest framework is required.
The Troubles Bill achieves nothing — and ongoing lawfare risks everything.

1 General Sir Peter Wall – CGS 2010-14; General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith CGS 2018-22; General Sir Patrick
Sanders CGS 2022-24; General Sir Richard Barrons Comd JFC 2013-16; General Sir Chris Deverell Comd
JFC 2016-2019; General Sir Richard ShirreG DSACEUR 2011-2014; General Sir Tim Radford DSACEUR
2020-23; General Sir Nick Parker CinC 2010-2012; Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford CAS 2013-2016