Minister hits out at ‘ illegal Labour wars’ in troop prosecution debate
THE DEFENCE Secretary has claimed “illegal wars” instigated by Labour contributed to the legal “mess” faced by British troops.
Ben Wallace made the remark during heated Commons exchanges with shadow Defence Secretary John Healey, who warned the Overseas Operations ( Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill fails to protect troops from prosecution on historical matters.
Mr Healey, Wentworth and Dearne MP, added the Government is bringing in a “legal presumption against prosecution for torture, war crimes, for crimes against humanity”.
He told the Commons: “This is the Government of Great Britain saying sexual crimes are so serious they’ll be excluded from this presumption, but placing crimes outlawed by the Geneva Convention on a less serious ( level) and downgrading our unequivocal commitment for upholding international law that we in Britain ourselves after the Second World War helped to establish.”
His comments were branded “embarrassing” by Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer sitting on the frontbench.
Mr Wallace then intervened, stating: “What is appalling is the straw man being put up time and time again by a Labour Party half- funded by these ambulancechasing lawyers that is going to damage our reputation. No apology of the money they took from a number of them, no apology whatsoever...
“Much of the mess we are having to come and clean up today is because of your illegal wars, your events in the past... and to put up straw men and make wild allegations that are wholly inaccurate and disputed by much more learned people than him, I think it a dis- service to our troops and is all about making an excuse for not supporting this Bill.”
Afghanistan and Iraq were the major military campaigns in which Tony Blair sent British troops into combat. The latter proved particularly controversial, especially in relation to the level of threat actually posed by Iraq’s weapons programme.
The Government believes the new legislation will ensure service personnel will be protected from “vexatious claims and endless investigations”.
It seeks to limit false and historical allegations arising from overseas operations by introducing a statutory presumption against prosecution, making it exceptional for personnel to be prosecuted five years or more after an incident.
To override the presumption, the consent of the Attorney General will be required, and the prosecutor must weigh up the “adverse impact of overseas operations on service personnel” and, where there has been no compelling new evidence, the public interest in cases coming to a “timely conclusion”.
Campaigners have warned that the legislation will create a presumption against prosecution of torture and other serious crimes.
Labour MP Dan Jarvis ( Barnsley
Central), who was a major in the Army, said while there was an “urgent need” to stop spurious legal claims against soldiers, the Bill “requires significant improvement”.
He added: “This is not the way to rebuild our reputation on the international stage.
“It would mean the UK reneging on our international legal obligations and could well put us at odds with the International Criminal Court. At a time when we’re witnessing an erosion of human rights and leaders turning their backs on international institutions, it is more important than ever before that we uphold our values and standards and not undermine them.”
It would mean the UK reneging on our legal obligations. Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis.