Kemi Badenoch Apologises After Bloody Sunday Footage Appears in Conservative Party Video
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has apologised after a video featuring footage from Bloody Sunday was shared on her social media account. The clip, published on Tuesday, showed soldiers entering Londonderry's Bogside on 30 January 1972, the day British Army paratroopers shot dead 13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators.
The Conservative Party had previously issued an apology on Friday, stating the video was removed "as soon as we were made aware of the footage." Speaking to PA News on Saturday, Badenoch explained the material went out "in error."
Badenoch clarified, "I did not sign off the video." She attributed the error to "very young people who did not recognise the footage as being from Bloody Sunday," adding, "It was removed as soon as the party understood that that was what had been put out." The video was intended to oppose Labour's proposed Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, which seeks to replace the contentious Legacy Act by allowing inquests and civil actions for Troubles-era incidents.
Foyle MP Colum Eastwood denounced the use of the footage as "disgusting and disgraceful," though he welcomed Badenoch's apology. Eastwood called for a direct apology from Badenoch to the survivors and families of Bloody Sunday victims.
The Saville Inquiry into the 1972 shootings concluded in 2010 that none of the casualties posed a threat or justified being shot. Then-Prime Minister David Cameron described the killings as "unjustified and unjustifiable." In October 2025, a former paratrooper, known as Soldier F, was acquitted of murder and attempted murder charges related to the incident.
The proposed Northern Ireland Troubles Bill aims to repeal the previous Conservative government's legislation, which banned inquests and civil actions for Troubles-era incidents, a move widely criticised by all parties and victims' groups in Northern Ireland. The government recently passed a carry-over motion for the bill, but its further parliamentary debate remains unscheduled.