‘We want to see loyalty’ – former SAS officer slams armed forces minister over Troubles Bill vote

A former SAS officer has accused the Armed Forces Minister Hilary Benn of “going against veterans” by abstaining over the Troubles Bill.

Speaking on GB News, Matt Hellyer said: “It’s pretty shocking how inadequate the Labour government is. Hilary Benn and his cronies on the front bench really; Starmer, Hermer and the rest of those Labour MPs who are meant to be leading this country have no dignity, have no responsibility, and certainly have no loyalty to the British military, whether it’s now or in the past.

“Hermer and Starmer, as we know, have a track record now of prosecuting veterans and serving soldiers, and this just transpires across on to this bill.

“The Conservatives put in the Legacy Act which gave us a stopgap solution where veterans were saved from prosecution, but it wasn’t failsafe.

“Labour have dismissed that within the first weeks of coming into power as we know, and it just shows us how weak that bill was, and it’s no disrespect to the Conservatives, they tried their best, but it was rushed through.

“Now, Labour have put something together that no one can really understand. I’ve been watching the comments of Labour MPs, the backbenchers. The Honourable Lady for Aldershot, she commented that there was nothing in the bill that she could see that would protect her constituents in Aldershot, many of them being Northern Ireland veterans, and she needed more proof and more evidence to show that it would actually protect.

“There’s nothing really Hillary Benn has put together that is going to protect these Northern Ireland veterans and I’m one myself. I served four tours of Northern Ireland and went through some horrendous stuff at the hands of the terrorists.

“And now to see the terrorists get in the upper hand again, and legal aid being given to them willy-nilly and prosecuting our brave soldiers who followed the rules of engagement and the laws of the land throughout, it’s shocking.

“The Armed Forces Minister, he has already said that he’s going to abstain. It shows how weak that bill is.

“It’s a tragedy, really, that Hillary Benn is allowed to lead this. There’s nothing in that bill at all that is going to protect soldiers and going to protect veterans of Northern Ireland, we can quite clearly see that.

“There’s no protection. What we’re going to see now is more legal aid cases, more of Starmer’s cronies getting money in the back pockets, representing the Republican families, and they’re going to be coming after veterans now.

“It’s not just human rights over veterans; it’s the whole Labour government against military veterans. They have prosecuted fraudulent claims against friends of mine from Iraq, friends of mine in Northern Ireland.

“They are fraudulently putting these claims together and being paid for by the Government. It’s shocking, what is going on. The general public and the rest of the MPs have got to start waking up.

“We’ve got to stop the prosecutions, not just vexatious prosecutions, we’ve got to stop all prosecutions of veterans. It is just traitorous.

“It’s a strange situation with [Al Carns]. I know he’s a proud veteran, but to abstain from this Act is bowing down and going against veterans. We want to see loyalty, we want to see people standing with us.

“For him to abstain, all that that saying is, ‘I want my job. Please, Mr Starmer, don’t sack me’ right?

“And what I would say is you vote the way you believe. Don’t just sit there for your job and bow down to Starmer. He’s going to be going soon, and now people have got to be accountable for their actions.”