The BBC’s war on the SAS

The SAS is under fire, not from terrorists or insurgents, but from ill-informed commentators and our state broadcaster. Our Special Forces are globally respected, they have been a vital part of Britain’s national security capability for nearly 80 years and they run enormous risks so that we might all be kept safe. Nevertheless, an exercise in making sure that they, like all who serve the Crown, are held properly to account risks being used by the ignorant, the sensationalist and the malicious to undermine the regiment and weaken our security.

In 2022, the then defence secretary, Ben Wallace, set up an independent statutory inquiry under Lord Justice Haddon-Cave to investigate allegations of unlawful activity by SAS personnel deployed to Afghanistan. There were particular concerns over reports of the extra-judicial killing of individuals detained during high-risk compound assaults. The inquiry has also been asked to consider whether the investigations into these allegations by the Royal Military Police were disrupted by the chain of command as part of an institutional cover-up.

If the inquiry concludes that the allegations are substantiated, criminal cases could follow and the ramifications could extend beyond the fate of individuals. Some commentators are calling for the regiment to be disbanded. The fate of the UK’s entire Special Forces capability hangs in the balance.

The nature of the allegations which prompted Wallace to order the inquiry have, naturally, attracted media interest. Investigative journalists are working to uncover what they consider to be the hidden truth. The BBC’s Panorama team is leading the way, skilfully weaving a compelling story informed by ex-Special Forces sources and in-person interviews with witnesses in Afghanistan. On 12 May, the programme painted a deeply disturbing picture, not just of what may have happened on the ground in Afghanistan but of the nature of the SAS itself.