With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement.<br>Today, my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is publishing the report of the Saville Inquiry…<br>…the Tribunal set up by the previous Government to investigate the tragic events of 30th January 1972 - a day more commonly known as "Bloody Sunday". <br>We have acted in good faith by publishing the Tribunal's findings as quickly as possible after the General Election.<br>Mr Speaker, I am deeply patriotic.<br>I never want to believe anything bad about our country.<br>I never want to call into question the behaviour of our soldiers and our Army who I believe to be the finest in the world.<br>And I have seen for myself the very difficult and dangerous circumstances in which we ask our soldiers to serve.<br>But the conclusions of this report are absolutely clear.<br>There is no doubt. There is nothing equivocal. There are no ambiguities.<br>What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable.<br>It was wrong.<br>Lord Saville concludes that the soldiers of Support Company who went into the Bogside "did so as a result of an order…which should have not been given" by their Commander…<br>…on balance the first shot in the vicinity of the march was fired by the British Army…<br>…that "none of the casualties shot by soldiers of Support Company was armed with a firearm"…<br>…that "there was some firing by republican paramilitaries…but….none of this firing provided any justification for the shooting of civilian casualties"…<br>…and that "in no case was any warning given before soldiers opened fire".<br>He also finds that Support Company "reacted by losing their self-control…forgetting or ignoring their instructions and training" with "a serious and widespread loss of fire discipline".<br>He finds that "despite the contrary evidence given by the soldiers…none of them fired in response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombers"…<br>…and that many of the soldiers "knowingly put forward false accounts in order to seek to justify their firing".<br>What's more - Lord Saville says that some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to the assistance of others who were dying.<br>The Report refers to one person who was shot while "crawling…away from the soldiers"…<br>…another was shot, in all probability, "when he was lying mortally wounded on the ground"…<br>…and a father was "hit and injured by Army gunfire after he had gone to…tend his son".<br>For those looking for statements of innocence, Saville says:<br>"The immediate responsibility for the deaths and injuries on Bloody Sunday lies with those members of Support Company whose unjustifiable firing was the cause of the those deaths and injuries"…<br>…and - crucially - that "none of the casualties was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury, or indeed was doing anything else that could on any view justify their shooting".<br>For those people who were looking for the Report to use terms like murder and unlawful killing, I remind the House that these judgements are not matters for a Tribunal - or for us as politicians - to determine.<br>Mr Speaker, these are shocking conclusions to read and shocking words to have to say.<br>But Mr Speaker, you do not defend the British Army by defending the indefensible.<br>We do not honour all those who have served with distinction in keeping the peace and upholding the rule of law in Northern Ireland by hiding from the truth.<br>So there is no point in trying to soften or equivocate what is in this Report.<br>It is clear from the Tribunal's authoritative conclusions that the events of Bloody Sunday were in no way justified.<br>I know some people wonder whether nearly forty years on from an event, a Prime Minister needs to issue an apology.<br>For someone of my generation, this is a period we feel we have learned about rather than lived through.<br>But what happened should never, ever have happened.<br>The families of those who died should not have had to live with the pain and hurt of that day - and a lifetime of loss.<br>Some members of our Armed Forces acted wrongly.<br>The Government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the Armed Forces.<br>And for that, on behalf of the Government - and indeed our country - I am deeply sorry.<br>Mr. Speaker, just as this Report is clear that the actions of that day were unjustifiable…<br>…so too is it clear in some of its other findings.<br>Those looking for premeditation, those looking for a plan, those looking for a conspiracy involving senior politicians or senior members of the Armed Forces - they will not find it in this Report.<br>Indeed, Lord Saville finds no evidence that the events of Bloody Sunday were premeditated…<br>…he concludes that the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Governments, and the Army, neither tolerated nor encouraged "the use of unjustified lethal force".<br>He makes no suggestion of a Government cover-up.<br>And Lord Saville credits the UK Government with working towards a peaceful political settlement in Northern Ireland.<br>Mr Speaker, the Report also specifically deals with the actions of key individuals in the army, in politics and beyond…<br>…including Major General Ford, Brigadier MacLellan and Lieutenant Colonel Wilford.<br>In each case, the Tribunal's findings are clear.<br>It also does the same for Martin McGuinness.<br>It specifically finds he was present and probably armed with a "sub-machine gun" but concludes "we are sure that he did not engage in any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire".<br>Mr. Speaker, while in no way justifying the events of January 30th 1972, we should acknowledge the background to the events of Bloody Sunday.<br>Since 1969 the security situation in Northern Ireland had been declining significantly.<br>Three days before ‘Bloody Sunday', two RUC officers - one a Catholic - were shot by the IRA in Londonderry, the first police officers killed in the city during the Troubles.<br>A third of the city of Derry had become a no-go area for the RUC and the Army.<br>And in the end 1972 was to prove Northern Ireland's bloodiest year by far with nearly 500 people killed.<br>And let us also remember, Bloody Sunday is not the defining story of the service the British Army gave in Northern Ireland from 1969-2007.<br>This was known as Operation Banner, the longest, continuous operation in British military history, spanning thirty-eight years and in which over 250,000 people served.<br>Our Armed Forces displayed enormous courage and professionalism in upholding democracy and the rule of law in Northern Ireland.<br>Acting in support of the police, they played a major part in setting the conditions that have made peaceful politics possible…<br>…and over 1,000 members of the security forces lost their lives to that cause.<br>Without their work the peace process would not have happened.<br>Of course some mistakes were undoubtedly made.<br>But lessons were also learned.<br>Once again, I put on record the immense debt of gratitude we all owe those who served in Northern Ireland.<br>Mr. Speaker, may I also thank the Tribunal for its work - and all those who displayed great courage in giving evidence.<br>I would also like to acknowledge the grief of the families of those killed.<br>They have pursued their long campaign over thirty-eight years with great patience.<br>Nothing can bring back those that were killed but I hope, as one relative has put it, the truth coming out can set people free.<br>John Major said he was open to a new inquiry.<br>Tony Blair then set it up.<br>This was accepted by the then Leader of the Opposition.<br>Of course, none of us anticipated that the Saville Inquiry would last 12 years or cost £200 million.<br>Our views on that are well documented.<br>It is right to pursue the truth with vigour and thoroughness…<br>…but let me reassure the House that there will be no more open-ended and costly inquiries into the past.<br>But today is not about the controversies surrounding the process.<br>It's about the substance, about what this report tells us.<br>Everyone should have the chance to examine the complete findings - and that's why the report is being published in full.<br>Running to more than 5000 pages, it's being published in 10 volumes.<br>Naturally, it will take all of us some time to digest the report's full findings and understand all the implications.<br>The House will have the opportunity for a full day's debate this autumn - and in the meantime I have asked my Rt Hon Friends the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and Defence to report back to me on all the issues that arise from it.<br>Mr Speaker, this report and the Inquiry itself demonstrate how a State should hold itself to account…<br>…and how we are determined at all times - no matter how difficult - to judge ourselves against the highest standards.<br>Openness and frankness about the past - however painful - do not make us weaker, they make us stronger.<br>That's one of the things that differentiates us from terrorists.<br>We should never forget that over 3,500 people - people from every community - lost their lives in Northern Ireland, the overwhelming majority killed by terrorists.<br>There were many terrible atrocities.<br>Politically-motivated violence was never justified, whichever side it came from.<br>And it can never be justified by those criminal gangs that today want to drag Northern Ireland back to its bitter and bloody past.<br>No Government I lead will ever put those who fight to defend democracy on an equal footing with those who continue to seek to destroy it.<br>But neither will we hide from the truth that confronts us today.<br>In the words of Lord Saville -<br>"What happened on Bloody Sunday strengthened the Provisional IRA, increased nationalist resentment and hostility towards the Army and exacerbated the violent conflict of the years that followed. Bloody Sunday was a tragedy for the bereaved and the wounded, and a catastrophe for the people of Northern Ireland."<br>These are words we can not and must not ignore.<br>But what I hope this Report can also do is to mark the moment when we come together, in this House and in the communities we represent.<br>Come together to acknowledge our shared history, even where it divides us.<br>And come together to close this painful chapter on Northern Ireland's troubled past.<br>That is not to say that we must ever forget or dismiss that past.<br>But we must also move on.<br>Northern Ireland has been transformed over the past twenty years…<br>…and all of us in Westminster and Stormont must continue that work of change, coming together with all the people of Northern Ireland to build a stable, peaceful, prosperous and shared future.<br>It is with that determination that I commend this statement to the House.