Calls to wind up Ihat after cost of pursuing abuse claims hits £35m
By THE cost of the controversial investigation into alleged historic abuse by British troops in Iraq has risen to £35 million, ministers admitted yesterday.
Critics said the “staggering” expense of the criminal inquiry emphasised the need to shut it down before any more money was wasted.
The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat), set up by the Ministry of Defence six years ago, is investigating almost 1,500 cases of alleged mistreatment and unlawful killings of Iraqis following the 2003 invasion.
But so far, not a single soldier has been charged with any offence. Three war veterans, including a major decorated for bravery, are facing possible prosecution over the death of a 19-yearold Iraqi man who drowned in 2003.
In response to a parliamentary question, Mike Penning, a defence minister, said the cost of Ihat had reached £34.7 million at the end of September.
The inquiry is funded by the Ministry of Defence and could cost as much as £57.2 million in total by the end of 2019 when it is expected to conclude.
Almost all its cases were submitted to Ihat by a single law firm – Public Interest Lawyers – which folded in the summer after its legal aid contract was withdrawn over alleged irregularities regarding its work in Iraq.
Johnny Mercer, a Conservative MP who is leading a parliamentary inquiry into Ihat and the treatment of soldiers under investigation, said: “Ihat has become a self-financing taxpayer moneyeating machine that has grown disastrously beyond anyone’s control.”
His inquiry has heard how a recruitment agency is paid almost £5 million a year to provide about 125 investigators – many of them retired police officers already receiving a full pension – to carry out the bulk of its work.
Mr Mercer, a former Army captain, added: “If this money had instead been invested into creating a department for veterans’ affairs, we would now be looking at making the military covenant a reality for every serviceman and women and their families.
“We have a long way to go in our relationship with our military in the United Kingdom today.”
Sir Henry Bellingham, a former Conservative minister who requested the information on Ihat’s cost, said: “This is an absolutely staggering figure, and to be spending this kind of money on pursuing our brave and honourable troops when the Ministry of Defence budget is under so much pressure, is fast becoming a national disgrace.
“I do not believe there is a single other country in Nato that would spend this sort of money pursuing what are in the main, wholly spurious allegations put together by dubious legal aid lawyers. It is absolutely imperative that Ihat is immediately wound up, and the vast amounts being spent on it put to a far more constructive use.”
More than 3,300 allegations have been submitted to Ihat but more than half were dismissed immediately.
The latest figures show that just 176 investigations have so far been completed or are nearing completion. Just four of those have prompted any further action.
‘We have a long way to go in our relationship with our military in the United Kingdom today’