Star date: 28th May 2018

UK VETERANS-ONE VOICE FIGHT FOR FAIR TREATMENT OF ARMED FORCES

Members of UK Veterans – One Voice marched on Salford MediaCityUK today calling for fair treatment of members of the armed forces being prosecuted forty years after the Northern Ireland 'conflict'.

"This is all about injustice" says Martyn Simpson, of UK Veterans "We did what the politicians asked us to do...and now we are prosecuted for doing our duty..."

Full details here...

Led by a lone piper, members of UK Veterans – One Voice, a non-political group which calls for fair treatment for all veterans, marched from the Imperial War Museum North to Salford's MediaCityUK today, calling for an end to the prosecutions of former armed forces personnel who took part in the Northern Ireland 'conflict' forty years ago.

"Basically, we're saying that the Good Friday Agreement was brought into place, and, as a result of that, the IRA was released from jail and that was putting an end to it...So now, why are we suddenly prosecuting the British Army for their role in Northern Ireland?" asked Martyn Simpson, ex-RAF and a member of UK Veterans – One Voice.

The group was founded around three years ago when news broke that a Lance Corporal was being prosecuted for his part in Northern Ireland. Within nine days there was a petition with over 39,000 names on it and a five hundred strong march on Downing Street.

"We have continued marching on Downing Street and hand a letter into the Prime Minister on every occasion that we go" Martyn explained, adding that today's march on Media City was to highlight media silence on the issue, and because of the heightened sense of security around the Manchester Arena bombing...

"People are on alert for terrorism, and we're here to say that the people who are stopping terrorism, be it in the forties, fifties...right up to the present day...how can we stop it when you are letting them take us to court for it?" he added.

Today, the case of Dennis Hutchings was highlighted. Now in his seventies, he is being charged with attempted murder and Section 18 wounding after an IRA suspect was fatally shot in 1974. The case was investigated by authorities in 1974, and from 2008 to 2011, without any arrest taking place, but he was eventually charged in 2015 with a court case pending.

"One side will say that the person who was shot dead had mental health issues and was running away" Martyn said "What you are not seeing come out is that that person was running with the IRA, so everyone around him were IRA members. They fired shots and those shots were returned. Nobody can say who fired that shot.

"Dennis is a bloke in his seventies with a terminal illness" he added "He's been interviewed over a four day period 25 times and he was denied his solicitor...He's not a man who is going to run off, yet he asked if he could take his wife on a cruise as it would be the last chance he got. The court took his passport off him. I'm also aware of two paras who have been arrested and interviewed...They will go for everybody...

"Tony Blair went for peace at any cost; and that cost was your own armed forces" he explained "This is all about injustice. If you're going to prosecute the British Army for their role, then do so in a genuine bona fide straight court. If they're trying them, why not do it in this country with a proper jury?"

"We are not political, we were in Northern Ireland under the Conservatives and Labour and we all swore an allegiance to protect Queen and country, and that's what we were ordered to do; so why are you now prosecuting us for carrying out orders?" he added "If anyone should be prosecuted it should be the Government and the people who sent them there."

In MediaCity, the group posted sentries with placards around the Plaza, before parading, making speeches and handing out flyers to the many tourists drinking and sunbathing in the gardens.

"In the seventies we marched through the streets to protect the Irish, now we are marching through the streets to protect ourselves, forty years later" said veteran Paul Lomas.

Many were also incensed that Northern Ireland has been almost wiped from army history..."Hundreds of servicemen lost their lives in Northern Ireland" said Martyn "We go a remembrance parades and people mention two World Wars, the Falklands, the Gulf wars and Afghanistan; Northern Ireland does not get mentioned. It's been obliterated from the history books.

"You invite us out to parade, you give us a round of applause and we thank you for it" he added "We love this country, so why are we now being kicked?

"Nothing would give me more pride than for my children or grandchildren to join the armed forces" he concluded "But at the back of my mind I'm thinking 'Why? They're going to get prosecuted'..."

For further details see www.ukveterans-onevoice.uk