Seven years on and at a cost of some £40 million, the interim report of Operation Kenova has finally landed. Its content is explosive but not unexpected. The language of the document is blunt, honest and a brutal read, laid out in black and white.

Jon Boutcher, his investigative team and, latterly, Ian Livingstone deserve much praise for their tenacity, determination and doggedness. They challenged the Deep State and have survived to tell the tale.

Other external investigations, like that headed by the late former deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, John Stalker, were not so lucky.

Stalker was brought down as he started to unravel the murderous threads of murky relationships between the RUC Special Branch, Army intelligence and their coordinated collusion with loyalist paramilitaries. He met with resistance and obfuscation at every turn.

Stakeknife

Disturbing questions remain about dirty war after Kenova revelations – Tom Kelly

To his credit, Stalker raised questions which never went away about the rogue nature of........

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