Protect our troops
Vexatious legal claims and repeat investigations affecting our nation’s veterans have become a problem, and Labour are determined that the solutions being proposed in a new bill should be lawful and effective.
That’s why as proposals go through Parliament, I am looking to help build the case and consensus for changes to the bill to protect both our Armed Forces and our long-held adherence to international treaties. This week, Parliament heard the second reading of the Overseas Operations Bill, which in its current draft, presents a lot of problems for many people. This is particularly in relation to the investigation and prosecution of the most serious allegations, including of torture and war crimes.
Labour is challenging the government on many of the concerns that have been raised. Unamended the bill would undermine Britain’s long-standing and unequivocal adherence to the Geneva Conventions, and other international treaties, by bringing in a presumption against prosecution after five years to cover
torture and other war crimes. Rather than relief for those accused, it risks UK service personnel being dragged to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, instead of being dealt within our own British justice system.
On sexual offences, this is excluded from the scope of the proposed legislation, yet torture and war crimes are not, in effect placing such grave crimes on a lower level.
I believe that no one deserves to be investigated and prosecuted for a crime they did not commit, and no one deserves to be repeatedly investigated without good reason. However, nothing in this bill would fix the flawed investigations system that has failed victims and accused alike. It is not just our commitments to international law where the bill falls short.
As Labour has argued, and now the British Legion have said, it risks breaching the Armed Forces Covenant. This is because the bill could prevent British Armed Forces personnel from holding the Ministry of Defence to account when it fails to properly equip troops, or when it makes serious errors that lead to the death or injury of British forces overseas. As proposals progress through both the Commons and Lords, Labour aims to forge a constructive consensus on changes to overhaul investigations, set up safeguards against vexatious claims that are consistent with our international obligations, hold all war crimes to the same judicial standards, and guarantee troops retain their right to compensation claims when MoD failures lead to the injury or death of our forces overseas.
I will always fight for our troops and their right to justice from the MoD; and we all must fight to protect our country’s reputation for upholding the rules-based international order that Britain has helped construct since the days of Churchill and Attlee.
Stephen Morgan Shadow Armed Forces Minister, MP for Portsmouth South