Sir Iain Duncan Smith

Conservative — Chingford and Woodford Green

Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 January 2026

Debate

Northern Ireland Troubles: Legacy and Reconciliation

Contribution

In essence, what my hon. Friend is talking about here with the agreements about the destruction of weaponry and the loss, therefore, of any ability to prosecute or proceed was, in a sense, one way. There is no way on earth that the same process would have been allowed for soldiers who had served in Northern Ireland. All evidence was kept, captured and can be used against them, whereas the weaponry that was destroyed and all other matters, such as letters of comfort, tended in one direction. When the Government talk about equivalence, they are wrong. It has never been about equivalence; it has been about one-way traffic.

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