Former Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace is facing questions about a change made to a draft bill that would have protected the SAS from prosecution.
At the time the changed bill was presented to Parliament, Sir Ben was already aware of war crimes allegations against the elite regiment, senior government sources told BBC Panorama.
The Overseas Operations Bill had originally proposed British troops be protected from war crimes prosecutions relating to alleged offences more than 10 years ago.
But under Sir Ben, the 10-year clause was halved to five years.
The change had the effect of pushing war crimes allegations against the SAS outside the cut-off period for bringing a prosecution under normal circumstances.
Government sources close to the bill told the BBC that Sir Ben took personal charge of its passage and no changes were made without his approval. The allegations against the SAS are now being investigated by a public inquiry chaired by Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, which was launched following a BBC Panorama investigation. Panorama revealed that an SAS squadron killed 54 people in suspicious circumstances on one six-month tour.
Sir Ben is giving evidence at the inquiry on Monday.
The former Conservative Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, who expressed serious misgivings about the bill when it was introduced, told the BBC the change to the timeframe “certainly raises questions” in light of the allegations against the SAS.
Credit: bbc.com
