Vow to shield bravest of the brave from witch-hunts

BRITAIN will never again allow its soldiers to be ‘harangued and harassed by Left-wing human rights lawyers’, Theresa May vowed yesterday.

In an impassioned speech, she pledged to protect the ‘bravest of the brave’ against postconflict witch-hunts. The Prime Minister also praised Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon, saying he had proved that the ‘finest Armed Forces known to man’ would be supported with ‘our hearts and souls’.

Her comments came after she announced earlier this week that the Government would rip up human rights laws when soldiers are sent to wars so they are not relentlessly hounded.

Yesterday it emerged that the head of the Army, General Sir Nicholas Carter, had written to his chain of command to demand they support troops who are under investigation. He also ordered a review of the practices used by two inquiries quizzing personnel.

At the Tory Party conference in Birmingham, Mrs May said she was ‘always committed to a strong national defence and supporting the finest Armed Forces known to man’. She added: ‘This week, our excellent Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, proved not only that we will support them with our hearts and souls.

‘Not only will we remain committed to spending two per cent of our national income on defence... we will never again – in any future conflict – let those activist, Left-wing human rights lawyers harangue and harass the bravest of the brave – the men and women of Britain’s

‘The finest Armed Forces known to man’

Armed Forces.’ The major crackdown was a victory for the Daily Mail, which has campaigned for an end to the witch-hunt against UK troops.

We highlighted the plight of innocent soldiers, many suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, who have been relentlessly hounded over incidents that happened a decade ago.

They have been cleared by multiple probes, only then to be dragged before an inquest-style hearing years later because of European human rights laws.

On Tuesday Mrs May announced the Government would derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights in future wars to protect soldiers from an ‘industry of vexatious claims’. Yesterday Mr Fallon pledged to slash the number of current investigations involving British soldiers in Iraq to a ‘few dozen’. He said he wanted the Armed Forces to ‘do their job fighting the enemy, not the lawyers’.

The 145-member strong Iraq Historical Allegations Team (Ihat) is currently investigating 1,668 cases of alleged criminality by British troops.