Beleaguered Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley has said she does not believe her own controversial comments about Troubles killings by the security forces, insisting they were “not my view”.

Ms Bradley apologised for the “enormous distress” caused by her gaffe and distanced herself from her own words, saying: “I do not believe what I said, that is not my view.”

The cabinet minister has faced calls to quit after she told MPs that killings carried out by the security forces during the Troubles “were not crimes” but actions of people “fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way”.

Her comments come at a particularly sensitive time, as the families of the Bloody Sunday victims are waiting to hear whether soldiers involved in the killing of civilians in Derry in 1972 will face prosecution.

Ms Bradley later clarified her remarks but was forced to issue a full apology on Thursday amid a furious backlash from politicians and victims’ families.

Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Show all 12 1 /12 Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry A garage door displaying unionism, bolted shut, like a visual representation of Brexit Britain, locked to outsiders, safeguarding what’s inside Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry Rossville Street, the site of Bloody Sunday, where messages demand a severance with England. From this perspective, Britain is England in sheep’s clothing, the real empire, the centre of colonial power Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Bangor A political message in paint not yet dry, still forming, setting, adjusting, or in old paint finally eroding, melting away Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Bangor Moral judgement frames a residential view. The message seeks to make everybody involved in the religious narrative: those who don’t believe are those most in debt Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Castlerock The beach is sparse and almost empty, but covered in footprints. The shower is designed to wash off sand, and a mysterious border cuts a divide through the same sand Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Belfast Two attempts to affect and care for the body. One stimulated by vanity and social norms and narratives of beauty, the other by a need to keep warm in the winter night Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Belfast The gate to an unclaimed piece of land, where nothing is being built, where no project is in the making, where a sign demands the creation of something new Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry Under a motorway bridge a woman’s face stares, auburn and red-lipped, her skin tattooed with support for the IRA and a message of hostility to advocates of the Social Investment Fund Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry The Fountain Murals, where the curbs and the lampposts are painted the red, white, and blue of the Union Flag. A boy walks past in the same colours, fitting the scene, camouflaged Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Coleraine A public slandering by the football fields, for all to see or ignore. I wonder if it’s for the police or for the community Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Belfast A tattoo parlour, where the artist has downed tools, momentarily, bringing poise to the scene, which looks like a place of mourning, not a site of creation Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry A barrier of grey protects the contents of this shop, guarding it from the streets outside, but it cannot conceal it completely, and the colours of lust and desire and temptation cut through Richard Morgan/The Independent

She said: “I shouldn’t have said it and I want to say sorry to all those people, all those families that have been kind enough to share their experiences with me.

“I want to say sorry to them because I didn’t want to cause hurt or pain or distress to them in any way, and what I want to do is deliver for them, and I am absolutely determined I will do.

“I recognise that a slip of the tongue at the wrong moment has caused enormous distress.

“I want to be very clear – I do not believe what I said, that is not my view.

“I believe that where crimes have happened, no matter who the perpetrator, they should be properly investigated by an independent authority and they should be prosecuted.”

She vowed to try to rebuild the trust of victims and to reassure them of her intent to deliver on stalled mechanisms to address the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

But the families of victims of shootings involving the British army in Belfast in 1971 rejected her invitation to meet.

John Teggart, whose father Danny was shot 14 times at Ballymurphy, said she should “do the dignified and appropriate thing” and resign immediately.

“Ballymurphy massacre families have been requesting a meeting with the secretary of state since she took up her position of secretary of state for Northern Ireland,” he said.

“Karen Bradley hasn’t even replied to these requests.”

He added: “We will not meet her, and have one request for Mrs Bradley – and that is for her to resign immediately.”

Downing Street has insisted Theresa May has full confidence in Ms Bradley, who remains a close ally of the prime minister.

But the pressure on the Northern Ireland secretary to quit has shown no sign of abating in recent days.

Ms Bradley previously faced criticism when she admitted, at the time of her appointment, she did not realise nationalists in Northern Ireland did not vote for unionist parties in elections.

Her difficulties come after significant blunders by two other cabinet ministers, on a day of chaos for Ms May’s cabinet.