SECRETARY of State for Defence Penny Mordaunt has announced that she plans to end the “chilling threat of probes into past offences by British troops in the North of Ireland.” 

Surprisingly, Labour shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith, MP for Llanelli, jumped to Mordaunt’s defence, saying she was “glad” to hear of the government’s plans to grant former soldiers immunity from potential prosecution. 

Maybe it was when someone pointed out to Griffith that if anything similar to a “statute of limitations” was to be introduced, it would put the British government alongside Robert Mugabe, Chile and Argentina, who all used it to protect their soldiers under a military dictatorship, that she appeared to find reverse gear and issued a revised statement saying: “Labour opposes any blanket immunity and stressed that the proposals did not apply to Northern Ireland, where the Good Friday Agreement and peace process remains paramount.”