One of the thing that appear to have happened on that day and following it was that various people in the army and in the government engaged in a criminal conspiracy to conceal the truth. Acessories to murder before and after the fact.

The people who did this can in no way claim that they were provoked or acting in panic at a time when they believed they were in danger of their lives. And in terms of the deadly impact of their actions on the subsequent events, I think that, in the long run, they probably did even more harm than the soldiers who carried out the massacre.

But I expect that, whatever blame is levied by the inquiry, it will be largely confined to the rank and file paras. Widgery is not the ony judge who loyally does what is required of him.