Former Armed Forces minister Al Carns, a decorated ex-Special Forces officer, has defended SAS soldiers who served in Northern Ireland, arguing they should not be treated as "villains" or repeatedly investigated decades after the Troubles as part of efforts to rewrite history. He made the comments in a foreword to a Policy Exchange think-tank paper, published as Labour's Northern Ireland Troubles Bill—which would allow veterans to face legacy inquests and criminal investigations under human rights law—prepares to return to the House of Commons this autumn.

Carns, who resigned from Sir Keir Starmer's government over defence spending and the Troubles Bill, said every SAS use of lethal force was investigated at the time and that reopening the same cases under later legal standards was unfair, though he stressed no soldier should be above the law. The Bill would replace the Conservatives' Legacy Act 2023, scrapping conditional immunity in favour of a new body, the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval, to assess whether fresh evidence justifies reopening cases dating back to 1969. It has passed its first two Commons readings and is set for Committee stage, with the Special AS Regiment Association threatening legal action and the Government insisting the legislation offers veterans six new protections, including exemption from attending hearings in Northern Ireland.