The SAS have been betrayed in the name of human rights

The SAS are worried. Britain’s most elite military unit have come face to face with the IRA, the Taliban and Isis. But the enemy that really concerns them doesn’t carry a gun or wear a suicide belt. It’s the phalanx of lawyers they think are coming for them, armed with a deadly weapon: the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Many SAS soldiers now believe that if they pull the trigger during an operation and kill a terrorist, they’ll spend decades being hounded through the courts. They don’t trust the chain of command to look after them. They accuse politicians of a ‘betrayal’. That’s hurting morale and may eventually hit recruitment. We may all end up being less safe because of it.

This picture of discontent inside the SAS comes from George Simm, a former Regimental Sergeant Major, who wore the winged dagger for 23 years. I could not speak to serving soldiers or officers: the SAS observe a strict omertà. Simm was one of those who drew up the current contract forbidding ‘disclosure’ that everyone joining has to sign. He commands immense respect within Britain’s Special Forces and was once described as an SAS ‘centurion’. He was at the regiment’s base near Hereford recently for a funeral and heard widespread complaints. He says: ‘The mood in the camp is dark. They know that service with the regiment is maybe ten or 15 years – and the rest of your life is being chased by lawyers.’