A former commanding officer of the SAS has said Sir Keir Starmer was “a participant” in vexatious claims against British military personnel.
Speaking on GB News, Col Richard Williams said: “Aside from the fact that it’s always awful to listen to lies and deceit having to be returned to truth in the House of Commons, the bigger point is that it proves that the Prime Minister wasn’t a spectator or a referee in a game where on the one side you’ve got honourable British soldiers doing what they’re directed to do in combat operations overseas and on the other side, you have a series of human rights law enabled lawyers taking them on for their own end and not for the good of the country.
“He wasn’t a spectator; he wasn’t a referee. He was a participant in this game that is effectively representing a legal framework for military operations that does not work, and started in 1998 with the Human Rights Act.
“It certainly must appear that way to not just those serving military personnel today, but those that have conducted, honourably, the operations, not just since 1998 but before.
“Because, as we’re seeing, that Human Rights Act is being applied retrospectively to honourable, effective, legal military operations in Northern Ireland against veterans in their 70s and 80s now.
“And this has been encouraged by those law firms which Sir Keir Starmer was part of and is being fed by those law firms.
“So the big questions here are, did somebody lie? Well, quite evidently, yes. Secondly, was the Prime Minister part of this body that is attacking the reputation and the security of this country via these vexatious claims against the military personnel that, again, I repeat, conducted effective, legal military operations, honourably overseas and at home? Yes.
“And then finally, what does it show the really big strategic point, the point that would impact those that are considering going to deal with the transitional situation in Ukraine, if ever there is a peace deal?
“It makes them ask the most important question of all, which is, is there a legal basis for British military operations overseas, or am I, if I go out there and do my best in the combat zone, am I going to be subject to this type of vexatious persecution for years because of a legal framework put together in 1998 that the leaders since then have not adjusted?
“And I think that’s an exceedingly serious point; not just whether there was deceit, not just whether Sir Keir Starmer was part of this, but what the hell are we going to do on the go forward basis?”