Bríd Smith denounces British legacy bill, attacks DUP and Tories
Bríd Smith criticises the British government's legacy bill as hypocritical and an affront to victims, and challenges DUP and Tory claims about the Northern Ireland Protocol. She backs relatives for justice, cites official UDR records via the book UDR Declassified, disputes trade-impact claims, highlights the cost-of-living crisis and urges action on 18th of June.
Accusations over the legacy bill
She says the bill does the opposite of recent British declarations on accountability and calls it an insult to families seeking truth and justice. She highlights Relatives for Justice's statement that the Tory government previously fought families and courts to prevent disclosure and locked down files for long periods.
Evidence cited from UDR records
She points to research compiled from government official records and the book UDR Declassified, authored by her nephew Micheál Smith, as demonstrating documented collusion and the role of British regiments and the Ulster Defence Regiment. She argues these are not opinions but facts drawn from released files.
Critique of the Protocol debate
She describes the Protocol as a logistics issue that the DUP and Tories have cynically used to whip up a constitutional crisis. She disputes DUP and Tory claims that the Protocol has undermined business, citing findings from the Institute of Economic and Social Research that suggest the protocol has helped, not hurt, access to EU markets and growth.
Hypocrisy on rights and political crisis
She accuses the DUP of selective objections, noting they oppose an Irish Sea border for goods but would impose limits on women's access to abortion and reproductive rights. She says the DUP are in crisis, using the Protocol to block government formation and resist democratic outcomes.
Economic pressures and call to action
She warns that despite some trade statistics, ordinary workers face crushing price hikes in energy, food and transport and worsening wages and services. She urges people to join the TUC-supported action on the 18th of June and build a similar mobilisation to demand governments do more to alleviate hardship and challenge the dominant political 'dinosaurs'.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I want to start by quoting Liz Truss recently she said we will not rest until those responsible for atrocities including military commanders and individuals have faced justice and I've deliberately left out four little words in the Putin regime now what hypocrisy is that coming from the mouth of the British government the bill on legacy does the opposite to Liz Truss declaration in respect of the British government's legacy in Northern Ireland and relatives for justice have reacted very strongly and correctly so those with the memory and pain of decades of fighting for justice and truth on both sides are hugely insulted and will continue to campaign I just want to quote from the relatives for justice statement we need to remember this is the very same Tory government that fought families and courts to prevent disclosure and discovery of information including locking down files for a hundred years in some cases and now they're locking down the courts and have the audacity to tell victims the process they propose will deliver and is in society's best interests the only interests served are those of the British establishment the Tories are speaking to their base with this bill at the expense of all the people impacted by the legacy of the so-called troubles much of that legacy lies at the door of British imperialist policies which covered up and facilitated extreme sectarian murders and collusion whether directly through regiments of the British army like the parachute regiment or indeed or indeed through their own creation or indeed through their own creation or indeed through their own creation of the Ultra Defence Regiment which was most recently exposed by research carried out by the Pat Finucane Centre entirely compiled from government official records and I'm proud to say that my nephew Micheál Smith is the author of the UDR Declassified and as an author he clearly illustrates that the legacy he brings out in the book is not his opinion but are facts from the horse's mouth facts so to speak from the files that the British government have released we should not tolerate hypocrisy of this nature from the British government but support the families and continue to seek truth and justice for all impacted so cruelly by the legacy issues on the protocol it was correctly named last week on a program I was on an RT by a representative of the Northern Ireland Holliers Association who said this is a logistics issue this is not a political issue but it's been cynically used and this is my words not his by the DUP and the Tories to whip up a constitutional crisis one that they hope will mask the crisis in unionism itself democratic unionists who oppose the protocol because of trades and goods easier with the Republic of Ireland than with the rest of the UK claim that it has raised retail prices by 27 percent this is it's not backed by any publicly available data findings in fact from the Institute of Economic and Social Research of Northern Ireland pour cold water on the Tory and DUP claims that the protocol requirement for EU checks on British goods arriving in Northern Ireland has undermined business opportunities the opposite is in fact the case and from the same source the post-Brexit trade protocol is helping not hurting growth and profitability in Northern Ireland because of its advantages for access to the EU markets and it's fascinating to see how the DUP propose no border in the Irish sea for trading in goods but that's exactly what they want in reaction to women's rights and abortion in their recent statements a border in the Irish sea for women access and reproductive rights but not for goods trading we shouldn't pander to this bigotry and once again the DUP and Tories are using the protocol to introduce a thatcherite nightmare of unbridled free trade from their perspective the reality is that the DUP are in severe crisis and are using the protocol to block the formation of a storm in government and to ignore the democratic outcomes of the recent Northern Ireland elections their failure to achieve an outcome that would suit them rather than the outcome that the people of Northern Ireland completely democratically voted for there's a great irony in the title of the DUP the democratic the so-called democratic unionist party who are doing everything to block democracy trade and business stats may be a bit healthier north north of the border according to the economic and research institute but this is a big but and this is a big but the lives of ordinary workers and families have deteriorated as they have south of the border and indeed across the water crushing price hikes in energy food and transport and a huge deterioration in wages and income and public services the cost of living crisis affects all sides of the border north and south and across these islands on the 18th of June there is an action being supported and promoted by the TUC across britain and we're building for a similar action here in the republic to get the response of ordinary people to demand that what is needed is done that the governments in all these islands crucially do much more to alleviate the hardship on workers and families and it is not just to make the political establishment account for themselves in terms of that economic hardship but it will also help to undermine the dinosaurs who dominate the political establishment the dinosaurs of the DUP and the Tory party and i would urge everybody to put their shoulder to the wheel to put their shoulder to the wheel and get involved in that action
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
