State secrecy on trial

The UK Supreme Court is hearing a case this week that cuts to the core of state secrecy and its corrosive role in blocking truth and accountability for victims of the Northern Ireland conflict.

At stake is whether the UK government can hide behind a “Neither Confirm Nor Deny” (NCND) policy to withhold information about the murder of Paul ‘Topper’ Thompson.

The 25-year-old Catholic was shot dead in a taxi in 1994 by a loyalist gang. State collusion is suspected in the case.

The Thompson family – grieving, dignified and resolute – has waited more than three decades for answers.

The government’s appeal follows three previous court rulings, all in favour of disclosure to the Thompsons. This family, like others, has a right to truth.

Yet instead of honouring those judgments, Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn and four other government departments are uniting to challenge information being disclosed.

Grim blueprint

This case is crucial regarding state secrecy on legacy issues and highlights everything wrong with the UK’s approach – a government more focused on protecting itself than delivering truth.

The Thompson case epitomises the failings of the UK’s legacy approach; a grim blueprint of how state secrecy, endless delay, and institutional obstruction continue to deny victims’ families their rights.

It starkly reveals the imbalance of power: a family seeking answers against a government closing ranks to protect itself from scrutiny.

The use of NCND policy in legacy cases all too often is not about protecting ‘national security’; it’s about protecting the state from accountability and has a key role in perpetuating a culture of impunity.

Indeed, Northern Ireland’s top policeman, chief constable Jon Boutcher, told a parliamentary committee that NCND “is applied in a way that has stopped wrongdoing coming to notice”.

Time for truth

Paul’s brother Eugene – seriously ill and unable to attend the hearing – has carried this fight alongside his late mother Margaret, who spent her final years demanding justice.

Their story is one of strength and heartbreak, but also of state betrayal. Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way.

The government can decide to stop dragging families through the courts and start prioritising what they truly seek: truth, transparency, accountability and closure.

This week’s Supreme Court hearing is about more than one family. It tests the boundaries of state secrecy in the face of public interest.

Truth delayed is justice denied; and secrecy must not be allowed to win.