THE UK Government’s Northern Ireland Secretary sparked outrage by telling the House of Commons killings by the security forces during the Troubles were not crimes.

Karen Bradley told the Commons they were people “fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way”. Sinn Fein’s Northern Ireland leader Michelle O’Neill said the comments were “outrageous and offensive” and should be withdrawn.

Scottish academic and commentator Gerry Hassan was among those who criticised Bradley on Twitter. He posted: “This is a marked retreat in how the UK Govt describes Bloody Sunday. The UK Govt under David Cameron in 2010 apologised for this massacre calling it ‘premeditated’ & ‘unjustified & unjustifiable’.”

Bradley told MPs: “More than 90% of the killings during the Troubles were at the hands of terrorists, every single one of those was a crime. The fewer than 10% that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes.

“They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duty in a dignified and appropriate way.”

Bradley’s comments came as Prime Minister Theresa May said the Ministry of Defence was considering introducing legislation to ensure British soldiers were not “unfairly” pursued through the courts.

O’Neill said: These comments are an insult to families who have lost loved ones at the hands of the British army, state agencies and their proxies in the loyalist death squads which were directed by the British state.”