Commenting, Carla Lockhart MP said:

“This week I voted to stand with our veterans and against legislation which does not give those who wore the uniform the protections they were promised and deserve.

“Men and women who stood between good and evil, who protected ordinary people from murderous terrorism, should not be looking over their shoulder decades later for having done their duty. They deserve protection, not prosecution.

“At places like Loughgall and Coagh, lives were saved because brave individuals confronted terrorism head-on. It is intolerable that those who served with courage and honour now face uncertainty while Government presses ahead with legislation that inspires little confidence among veterans or victims.

“I could not support a flawed process that risks exposing former service personnel to vexatious prosecution, while continuing to blur the moral distinction between those who upheld the rule of law and those who sought to destroy it through terror. There can be no equivalence.

“This Government has made promise after promise to veterans, yet the need for last-minute fixes tells its own story. Confidence in this process has been badly shaken.

“People are rightly frustrated that those who defended our freedoms seem too often treated as the problem, while pressure from Dublin appears to carry more weight than the voices of innocent victims and those who served. That is wrong.

“I voted against this legislation because I will not support anything that leaves veterans vulnerable or undermines confidence in justice.

“I will continue to stand unapologetically with those who put on the uniform, defended this country and helped defeat terrorism. They should be honoured, not hounded.”