MP is sacked over Veterans’ Bill vote
POLITICS: An MP says she is “sad” to have been removed from her role supporting the Labour leader’s top team after defying the party whip to oppose a Bill.
Olivia Blake was one of three MPs stripped of their junior roles after defying instructions to abstain on the Overseas Operations ( Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill.
A YORKSHIRE MP says she is “sad” to have been removed from her role supporting the Labour leader’s top team after defying the party whip to oppose a controversial Bill.
Sheffield Hallam’s Olivia Blake was one of three MPs stripped of their junior roles by Sir Keir Starmer after defying instructions to abstain on the Overseas Operations ( Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, which Tory Ministers say is aimed at protecting armed forces personnel from “vexatious prosecutions”.
Beth Winter and Nadia Whittome, who like Ms Blake were aides to Shadow Ministers, have also been removed from their positions. A Labour source said “anyone who wanted to vote against [ the] whip” had been informed they “would have to resign”.
The Government said the proposed legislation will ensure service personnel will be protected from “vexatious claims and endless investigations”.
Ministers said 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 Attorney General’s consent 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”.
But campaigners and some senior military figures have warned the legislation will create a presumption against prosecution of torture and other serious crimes except rape and sexual violence.
In a statement released yesterday, Ms Blake, the daughter of Leeds city council leader Judith Blake, confirmed that she had been “stood down from my roles as Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Shadow Digital Culture Media and Sport and Shadow Scotland teams”.
She wrote: “Throughout my political life, I have been a strong advocate for human rights, so last night’s vote was highly personal and one of conscience for me.
“I have also been contacted by a significant number of constituents voicing their opposition to the proposed legislation.
“Like Liberty, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a host of other human rights campaigns, I opposed the Bill because it includes a strong presumption against prosecuting military personnel for torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and potentially puts us on a collision course with the International Criminal Court.
“It effectively grants impunity for some of the most serious crimes someone can commit, provided the offences are carried out abroad and by a member of military personnel. I believe we should hold our soldiers to the highest standards and uphold international law.”
She added: “I’m deeply concerned that the proposed legislation says that a charge can only be brought within five years of the alleged offence. Often, it takes much longer than that to collate the evidence necessary to construct a case, so there is a significant danger that this legislation will be used to run down the clock on human rights abuses.”
Ms Blake said she respected the views of Labour MPs who believed the legislation could be amended at a later stage in the process. But she said: “I think the premise of the Government’s proposals is wrong and I don’t believe they can be amended to fix the fundamental flaws in the Bill, which is why I opposed the legislation at this point.”
I believe we should hold our soldiers to the highest standards. Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake.