Professor Kieran McEvoy:

There are a number of components to the fake news stuff around the rationale that was used to justify the command paper and, by extension, the new Bill. It is useful to put these components on the record. We have written a detailed report on all of this but I will summarise it. One component of the witch-hunt narrative against veterans was that the DPP in Northern Ireland had, in effect, been biased by pursuing prosecutions against State actors. These figures may be slightly out of date since we completed the report but the onus shifted that significantly. Since 2011, the DPP has initiated 17 conflict-related prosecutions, eight against republicans, four against loyalists and five in state cases involving six soldiers. Four of those state-actor cases collapsed for different legal reasons. In one instance, the defendant died. Another case is ongoing, so I will not comment on it. That was one element of the narrative in respect of which the DPP was involved.