British war heroes’ fury at Lord Hermer over ‘witch-hunt based on lies’

War heroes have criticized Keir Starmer’s closest adviser for making legal claims against Iraq veterans despite being warned they were lies.

Attorney General Richard Hermer carried out a ‘witch hunt’ against British soldiers in 2008 when he was a senior lawyer.

Soldiers serving their country on the battlefield were pursued with false allegations that they tortured and killed civilians after the Battle of Danny Boy in Southern Iraq in 2004.

Emails have now revealed Lord Hermer was warned the claims were ‘nonsense’ and even expressed his own doubts.

In a startling message to his colleague Martyn Day, a leading human rights lawyer, the barrister backed moves to make the cases public during an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme, saying ‘that should leave some leeway if the killings did not actually take place’.

The publicity push was part of an effort to secure taxpayer-funded compensation deals for Iraqi clients before they were exposed as liars in the Al-Sweady investigation in 2014.

A spokesman for Lord Hermer stressed that he was not aware his clients were telling ‘deliberate lies’ until much later.

But Military Cross winner Brian Wood, who was among soldiers falsely accused of war crimes by Lord Hermer’s clients, called on the Attorney-General to resign.

He told the Daily Telegraph: ‘I’ve lived through hell for years. It’s disgusting that Hermer is the Attorney General. He took us on a witch hunt and is now the government’s senior lawyer. This is completely wrong… it represented people trying to kill us.’

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer considers Lord Hermer his closest political adviser

Iraq veteran Philip Ingram backed the resignation request and described Lord Hermer’s actions as ‘absolutely disgusting’.

‘I think this is even bigger than the Mandelson scandal,’ he said. ‘Keir Starmer’s closest adviser was trying to get more clients to fuel his ego and line his pockets, even though he rightly suspected his claims were false.

‘It’s clear he knew this was complete nonsense, but he persisted with it without any regard for the terrible impact these cases had on the soldiers who risked their lives.

‘It almost seemed like a sport to him. It’s lower than low. This person is unfit to hold a British passport, let alone be the Attorney General advising our country.

‘When we have a Prime Minister like Lord Hermer, who has no principles and relies on the advice of his people, you can understand why this country is in such a mess.’

He also added that Lawyer, who argued on behalf of the charity Liberty that jihadist bride Shamima Begum should be allowed to return to the UK, was ‘anti-British’ and ‘a danger to this country’.

Ingram, who retired as a colonel after a 26-year career in the Armed Forces, was a senior officer in charge of interrogations in Iraq. He said the claim that soldiers harmed or killed civilians was ‘obvious nonsense’.

‘We went to great lengths to ensure our interrogations met human rights standards,’ he said. ‘The whole time I was there, I had one eye on law, that’s what it is.’ [soldiers] always think carefully.

‘Unfortunately, thanks to people like Lord Hermer, we have to spend the rest of our lives watching our backs.’

Last night Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Lord Hermer of ‘dragging British soldiers into the courts’.

‘The soldiers were innocent. “That’s not Keir Starmer’s decision,” he said.

Tory justice spokesman Nick Timothy added: ‘Lord Hermer is a disgrace. And the fact that Keir Starmer brought him into government tells you everything you need to know about the Prime Minister.’

Iraq veteran Philip Ingram says he is ‘disgusted’ by Lord Hermer’s emails

SAS hero Robin Horsfall says false but damaging legal claims will continue to be made against British troops

Reform’s home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, said Lord Hermer had ‘stalked’ the soldiers and destroyed their lives ‘as a blood trick’.

‘This is one of many emails he sent that show what a terrible man he is. “Hermer is a traitor who betrayed his country,” he said.

SAS hero Robin Horsfall, who was part of the famous assault team that rescued 19 hostages from the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980, has said the ‘law’ of cash grabs against soldiers will continue as long as the Government continues to fund it

‘This has been an ongoing problem for the armed forces for the last generation,’ he said. ‘The government funds law firms to investigate the behavior of the soldiers they send to fight their dirty wars so they can punish them for not fighting them well enough.

‘This harms recruitment because people who would normally encourage their sons and daughters to join the British Army have no confidence that they will be supported in the long term.’

A spokesman for Lord Hermer insisted he was “not significantly involved” in representing the six Iraqi detainees investigated in the Al-Sweady inquiry.

In his email to Mr Day in 2008, Lord Hermer mentioned disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner, who was later arrested and convicted for fraud.

He wrote: ‘I think Phil’s line strikes the balance between making sure the big story is out there and giving us some leeway if the murders didn’t actually happen.

‘Do you need to be a little more explicit in your press release about ‘evidence raising serious concerns about the execution of prisoners’ to attract sufficient interest, or will the Today interview naturally bring in the punters later that morning?’

However, he also said the allegations needed to be properly investigated to disprove them if necessary, writing: ‘If they [soldiers] Innocents deserve the most thorough investigation so that this situation can be clearly revealed.’

He continued: ‘If you do face hostile questions, it may be helpful that when allegations of mistreatment of Iraqis first emerged in the press a few years ago there was a massive media and military campaign to describe the allegations as scathing (you may recall that Piers Morgan was sacked for publishing fake photographs that later turned out to be the same on Breadbasket).

‘This in itself justifies the need to take these allegations seriously and ensure the most rigorous investigations are carried out (in fact you could argue that it would be unfair on the Army not to do so; without thorough investigations they will not be able to dispel suspicion of their involvement; if they are innocent they deserve the most thorough investigation so that this can be clearly established.’

A spokesman for Lord Hermer said it was wrong to criticize him over email, adding: ‘The solicitor did a little work at the outset of this case and made it clear at the time that the serious allegations required further investigation. And the Prosecutor argued that it would be unfair for armed forces personnel not to have the opportunity to demonstrate their innocence through a proper investigation.

‘During his 30-year legal career, the Attorney-General represented many clients, including British military personnel such as a British soldier killed by IRA terrorists and soldiers injured in the Iraq war. ‘Any allegation that the lawyer acted inappropriately throughout his private career is false.’

Regarding Lord Hermer’s dealings with Shiner, the spokesman said: ‘As soon as the Solicitors Regulation Authority case was brought forward, the Attorney-General publicly condemned Mr Shiner’s reprehensible conduct, which led to his rightful disqualification and successful prosecution.’