Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer called for a “mandatory duty” to investigate allegations about British troops, it is claimed. The prime minister is already facing criticism, including from former SAS commanders, for his approach on protections for those who served their country.
The latest claim has been revealed in newly uncovered court documents. The files reportedly showed the PM laid the legal groundwork for hundreds of failed investigations into British troops operating in Iraq. The case led to the expansion of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team, also known as IHAT, after winning an appeal at the European Court of Human Rights, it is said.
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British troops in Iraq in 2003 (file image) (Image: Getty)
The IHAT carried out an investigation costing £60 million over seven years, without a single prosecution, according to The Telegraph which discovered the court papers.
Sir Keir is thought to have worked for free on the case, alongside the now Attorney General Lord Hermer, on behalf of human rights groups pushing for UK military personnel in Iraq to be subject to European human rights laws.
It comes days after The Telegraph also reported that the PM had written a chapter for a 2008 book compiled by disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner, which it described as a call for European human rights laws to be used to investigate British troops in Iraq.
Downing Street hit back at the report, with Sir Keir’s official spokesman calling it a “desperate and deliberate misrepresentation”, insisting the chapter was an “academic legal analysis about international human rights law”.
The latest court documents reportedly show Sir Keir and Lord Hermer calling for human rights laws to be used to introduce a “mandatory duty” on the Government to investigate UK troops and to provide compensation to Iraqi victims.
It was rejected by the judge and then again in an appeal to the House of Lords in 2007.
Four years later, European Court of Human Rights judges ruled the ECHR did apply in occupied Iraq but the PM was no longer involved at this stage, per The Telegraph.
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge told the newspaper the Prime Minister “puts international law above our nation’s interests”.
He said: “This leaves no doubt that Keir Starmer fought – for free – to extend the jurisdiction of the ECHR to the British Armed Forces in Iraq.
“It is beneath No 10 to try to deny something that is a matter of legal record.”
The Government has already faced strong opposition over plans to repeal immunity provisions in Northern Ireland legacy legislation, which could see British Army veterans face prosecution for their conduct during the Troubles.
Both the Tories and Reform UK have slammed the proposals, which have also sparked outrage among veteran groups.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “As the Prime Minister made clear last week, he will never forget the courage, bravery and sacrifice made by British servicemen and women for their country.
“During his career, the Prime Minister has represented British soldiers who were killed in action and were wrongly accused.
“The Prime Minister did not represent the claimants in this case. He represented interveners. The role of an intervener is to assist the court on points of law, not to advocate for either side.
“The Prime Minister was not involved in the subsequent case heard in the European Court of Human Rights.”
