A parody of justice

MORE than 13 years after Tony Blair began his bloody and brutal war in Iraq, and there is no end in sight to the merciless hounding of those members of our Armed Forces who risked their lives fighting for Queen and country.

Even if they returned unscathed, many hundreds then faced a new nightmare – an unrelenting inquisition into their conduct ordered, perversely, by their own government. Even when the allegations have been dismissed by a military or civilian court, they are handed to the Iraq Historic Allegations Team, which has cost tens of millions of pounds but is yet to secure a single significant conviction and still has 1,500 cases on its books.

As the Mail reveals today, such is the misery endured by some soldiers, they are threatening to hand themselves over to the International Criminal Court. Isn’t it an indictment of British justice that they would prefer to be at the mercy of foreign judges in the Hague rather than here?

It is worth remembering that this entire, shameful exercise was prompted by the raft of allegations produced by legal-aid funded ambulance-chasing lawyers. And despite one firm, Public Interest Lawyers – headed by the infamous Phil Shiner – going out of business amid allegations of misconduct, the investigation he spawned rumbles on and on.

Of course, British soldiers who have committed crimes should be held to account. But the endless witch hunt they now face has become a parody of justice. It cannot go on.