KAREN Bradley's comments that security-related killings during Troubles were "not crimes" comes less than a year after Theresa May claimed that only "armed forces" personnel were being investigated.
The secretary of state, who caused outrage with her comments in the House of Commons yesterday, later attempted to clarify her remarks.
She was responding to a question from DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly about legacy issues. Saying killings at the hands of security forces were "not crimes" she said:
"They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duty in a dignified and appropriate way.
The remarks follow comments by last May by the prime minister who hit out at the system for investigating the past in Northern Ireland branding it "unfair".
Last year during a debate on legacy Theresa May claimed in the House of Commons that only people in the "armed forces" or "law enforcement" were being investigated.
This came despite PSNI figures revealing that investigations into killings by the British Army accounted for 30 per cent of its workload.
At Prime Minister's Questions last May Mrs May said the issue of a statute of limitations was "very important".
"At its heart, is the support and gratitude that we owe all those who have served in our armed forces," she said.
"The situation we have at the moment is that the only people being investigated for these issues are those in our armed forces or those who served in law enforcement in Northern Ireland.
"That is patently unfair. Terrorists are not being being investigated. Terrorists should be investigated and that is what the government wants to see."
