Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, has faced sharp criticism after posting a social media video opposing reforms to Northern Ireland's Legacy Act that included footage of British soldiers during the Bloody Sunday massacre. The video, shared on Tuesday, showed soldiers entering the Bogside area of Londonderry on January 30, 1972, when 13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators were shot dead by the Army.
The Conservative Party removed the video on Friday and issued an apology, stating: "We apologise for the inclusion of this material, which should not have been used and will not be used again." SDLP MP Colum Eastwood called the use of the footage "disgusting and disgraceful," demanding that Badenoch personally apologize to the survivors and families of victims.
Tony Doherty, whose father Patrick was killed on Bloody Sunday, described the video as "grossly insulting" and rejected the apology, saying: "You can remove the video but you cannot delete the history of the British Army... If you make the insult personally, you have to undo it personally."
The video featured Badenoch arguing that planned reforms to the Legacy Act would unfairly target veterans, saying: "This is not justice... Britain should stand behind our veterans, not put them on trial decades later." Eastwood countered that the video was "entirely about elevating the interests of British soldiers over the needs of victims and survivors."
In 2010, the Saville Inquiry concluded that none of the Bloody Sunday victims posed a threat, and then-Prime Minister David Cameron apologized for the killings, calling them "unjustified and unjustifiable." Last year, a former paratrooper known as Soldier F was acquitted of murder and attempted murder charges related to the day.
— BBC News NI