British soldiers who served in the Northern Ireland conflict will be excluded from proposed legislation that has been designed to protect veterans from unfounded prosecutions.
The Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told MPs the law, that will be tabled on Wednesday, would only cover “overseas operations”.
However, he recognised that the proposed legislation would not protect those who served in Northern Ireland and claimed that ministers would also set out the next steps to protect these veterans as well.
In their election manifesto, the Conservatives promised action on the issue within 100 days if they were re-elected on 12 December.
The government has claimed that last month’s power-sharing deal in Stormont struck a balance between supporting British veterans and giving victims of the Troubles the chance to seek justice.
The agreement, which revived the Northern Ireland Executive and Stormont assembly, included plans for a body to investigate unsolved murders in Northern Ireland between the late 1960s and 1990s.
Wednesday’s legislation first promised last summer, would protect British veterans from investigation over actions on the battlefield abroad after 10 years, except in “exceptional circumstances”.
There would be a statutory presumption against prosecution for current or former armed forces personnel, including those who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, except where compelling evidence had emerged.
The bill has been championed by former army officer Johnny Mercer, now the minister in charge of veterans’ affairs.
Ministers have repeatedly said they would like to extend protection from “repeated or unfair investigations” to troops who served in Northern Ireland. However, they have been warned of the “complexity of the legal and political issues involved”.
Mr Wallace confirmed the bill would “deal with overseas operations” only.
He added: “We, however, will accompany it with a statement from the Northern Ireland Office setting out what we will do to deal with Northern Ireland veterans as well. And they will be as equal, as similar, to the protections we’re going to look at overseas.”
Six former British soldiers who served in Northern Ireland during the conflict known as the Troubles are currently facing prosecution.
As of last year, the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland said of 26 “legacy cases” it had ruled on since 2011, 13 related to republicans, 8 to loyalists, and 5 were connected to the Army.
During Ministry of Defence Questions in the House of Commons, Mr Wallace said just 0.03% of the 295,000 British personnel who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan had been convicted of any offence.
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