Conservative Party apologises for Bloody Sunday social media video

By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

The UK's Conservative Party has apologised for a social media video which appeared to include footage of Bloody Sunday.

The video, criticising the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, was posted to its leader Kemi Badenoch’s social media channels on Tuesday and removed on Friday.

It featured footage of Badenoch condemning the Bill and was overlaid, in part, with archive clips of British soldiers.

At least one of the shots was identified by Foyle MP Colum Eastwood as having been filmed on Bloody Sunday, who described its use as “disgusting” and “disgraceful”.

A Conservative spokesman said: “As soon as we were made aware of the footage, the video was taken down.

“We apologise for the inclusion of this material, which should not have been used and will not be used again.”

13 unarmed civilians were shot dead when members of the Army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in the Bogside area of Derry on January 30th, 1972, which became known as Bloody Sunday.

The SDLP MP said in a statement: “I am shocked, frankly, that Kemi Badenoch has posted a video trumpeting the service of British soldiers in Northern Ireland using footage from Bloody Sunday.

“It is disgusting, disgraceful and it is an insult to the innocent civil rights protesters who were murdered in Derry in January 1972.”

In the video, Badenoch said Labour’s Bill will “drag” Troubles veterans back to court.

“It will put elderly veterans through fresh legal battles at the end of their lives,” she said.

Badenoch said her party will “vote to block” the legislation and “a future Conservative government will repeal it” and posted a link to a petition to stop the Bill.

The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill was designed to repeal and replace the controversial Legacy Act introduced by the previous Conservative government, ending the immunity scheme brought in under the law, which was ruled unlawful in the courts.

Eastwood said the video is “entirely about elevating the interests of British soldiers over the needs of victims and survivors who have been forced to fight against the power and might of the British state for decades seeking truth, justice and accountability for their loved ones”.

In 2010, then Conservative prime minister David Cameron apologised to the families of the civil rights marchers killed on Bloody Sunday after the Saville Inquiry found all were innocent.

Eastwood said: “We’re a long way away from former prime minister David Cameron’s powerful apology for the actions of soldiers on that day.”