By Terri-ann Williams For Mailonline
Published: 21:59 GMT, 12 March 2019 | Updated: 21:59 GMT, 12 March 2019
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Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson admitted last week that plans to introduce a ten-year limit on soldier prosecutions would come into effect in time for the Bloody Sunday soldiers
The Ministry of Defence has announced legal funding for Northern Ireland veterans ahead of expected charges in a letter sent out just 18 minutes before the Brexit vote.
At 6.42pm a letter entitled 'Departmental support to Veterans in legacy cases' was sent out by minister of defence people and veterans, Tobias Ellwood, minister of state for the armed forces, Mark Lancaster and secretary of state for defence Gavin Williamson.
The letter states that while the department understands that the Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service will announce on Thursday whether there will be criminal charges in relation to Bloody Sunday, that it would be inappropriate to speculate on the decisions of independent legal authorities.
Army veterans will find out on Thursday whether they face charges over the infamous shootings, in which 13 civilians died at the hands of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment on the streets of Londonderry in 1972.
The letter goes on to detail the ‘support arrangement in place for veterans who are subject to investigations by the Police Service of Northern Ireland'.
Tobias Ellwood (pictured above) was one of the signatories on the letter which was sent out earlier this evening
BuzzFeed reporter Alex Wickham posted a picture of the letter on Twitter.
In terms of legal support it states that veterans are all represented entirely at the Ministry of Defence’s expense.
It goes on to say that the department is mindful of the need to ‘safeguard taxpayers’ interests’, but that decision on the selection of independent legal representatives are not driven by considerations of cost but of offering veterans the best possible representations.
It states: ‘The Ministry of Defence is also
