https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/20/sas-soldiers-resign-en-masse-over-war-crime-witch-hunts/

https://archive.is/N9JXJ

SAS soldiers resign over war crime ‘witch hunts’

Army’s elite personnel quitting in ‘significant’ numbers’ as result of human-rights probes

Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers are resigning in significant numbers over fears they will be subjected to “witch hunts” by human-rights lawyers.

Multiple sources have claimed that personnel from across 22 SAS, the Army’s most elite fighting force, have applied for premature voluntary release.

The Telegraph is withholding the exact figure for security reasons. However, several SAS sources have described the recent losses as “significant” and a “threat to national security”.

At least two squadrons, D and G, are believed to have been affected, with insiders saying outrage over recent war crime probes into Afghanistan and Syria, which have been branded “witch hunts”, are believed to be the main driving forces.

The treatment of elderly Northern Ireland veterans who served in the SAS but have also found themselves being hounded through the courts on claims viewed as vexatious, some of which were described as “ludicrous” by a judge, have also contributed.

Among those understood to have resigned include several senior warrant officers, who are the backbone of the special forces and among the most experienced troops in the regiment. A number are understood to have applied for release “on principle” just before Christmas.

“Morale is s–t at the moment,” one insider with knowledge of the recent losses warned, while another said there was “considerable disquiet” in the regiment as a result.

Scrutiny on Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer is under immense pressure to boost the military after Donald Trump’s war on Iran showed how ill-prepared Britain was for war.

It took three weeks for HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, to arrive in the Eastern Mediterranean after RAF Akrotiri, a British airbase in Cyprus, was hit by a drone at the start of the conflict.

Sir Keir has failed to say how the Government will meet its pledge to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence, and his defence investment plan for military spending over the next decade – promised last autumn – has still not been published amid wrangling between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Treasury.

The SAS resignations are a major blow to the famed special forces unit, which is the tip of the spear in any military operation and is deployed globally.

Last month it was revealed 242 special forces troops, including 120 serving personnel, were being hounded by lawyers as part of £1m-a-month human rights inquiries.

The figures were unveiled in a memo shared with the Special Air Service and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment associations last month.

Secret operations across Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and Syria are being probed by lawyers, with troops involved facing legal sanctions if they fail to comply.

The memo, revealed by the Daily Mail, claimed troops had started to sign off in protest at the legal onslaught.

‘It feels like a betrayal’

George Simm, a former regimental sergeant major of 22 SAS, said personnel were afraid they would “get a knock on the door” from lawyers and felt they had been “betrayed”.

He said laws such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were being applied to war zones and that the right to life for “armed terrorists and murderers” now outweighed those of special forces troops sent to stop them from committing atrocities.

“If a soldier discharges their weapon, they are almost certainly going to get a knock at their door one day,” he told The Telegraph. “It feels like a betrayal and a break in the trust.

“We now have to consider the lives of the terrorists because of the ECHR. These are the guys who are shooting at us. We have all killed mass murderers and these lawyers say you should have done this and should have done that. It’s a joke.

“There is a dangerous dichotomy that has crept into the command and come all the way down the chain of command and not the lawyers are all over it.”

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Lt Col Richard Williams, a former commanding officer of 22 SAS, told The Telegraph: “The SAS, like all involved in UK defence today is being hit with the Labour Party’s unique, toxic, double whammy of lawfare persecution and budget cuts. It’s hardly surprising that professional and loyal soldiers, SAS or otherwise, choose to leave.”

Labour’s Troubles bill, which seeks to remove immunity protections introduced by the Conservatives in their Northern Ireland Legacy Act, has provoked outrage in military circles.

Some of the UK’s most senior retired military chiefs warned before Christmas that legal reform was provoking an “exodus” from the special forces.

In an unprecedented intervention, nine former military chiefs claimed that soldiers’ trust in the legal system had collapsed to such a point that it “risks everything”.

Enemies ‘rubbing their hands’

In an open letter to Sir Keir, they said allowing historic cases against veterans to be reopened is playing into the hands of Britain’s enemies.

The letter – which included retired Army boss Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, a former chief of the general staff, among its signatories – warned: “Today every British soldier deployed must consider not only the enemy in front of them but the lawyer behind them.

“Make no mistake, our closest allies are watching uneasily, and our enemies will be rubbing their hands.”

Writing separately for The Telegraph in December, seven former SAS commanders warned Britain’s most elite troops risked being used as “scapegoats” by politicians who are “doing the enemy’s work”.

The writers included two former commanding officers of 22 SAS, Aldwin Wight and Richard Williams, as well as three former squadron commanders, a former regimental sergeant major and a former warrant officer first class.

They said the threat of legal action could result in deaths as “commanders turn risk-averse” and “soldiers hesitate where boldness saves lives”.

“Britain’s special forces are small, discreet, uniquely lethal… Their humiliation rewards Moscow, Tehran and Beijing,” they wrote. “Our handling of allegations is national security, not a sideshow.

“Defend our defenders fairly, firmly, eyes open to war’s moral mess – or keep doing the enemy’s work, one leak, one inquiry, one broken soldier at a time. A democracy that won’t back its warriors won’t long endure.”

The Army has shrunk from more than 100,000 around 2010 to just over 70,000 fully trained soldiers now, its smallest size since before the Napoleonic war.

The Navy, once the jewel of Britain’s military, is now at its smallest size in living memory, with only seven frigates and six destroyers in the fleet and two aircraft carriers. Of the six Astute-class nuclear attack submarines only one is at sea.

While one of Britain’s Vanguard boats, armed with nuclear missiles, spent more than six months under water – a far longer deployment than previously carried out by the nuclear deterrence force.

An MoD spokesman said: “While it is a longstanding policy of successive governments to not comment on UK Special Forces, we are immensely proud of all our Armed Forces and their extraordinary contribution to keeping the UK safe at home and abroad.

“We are committed to ensuring that the legal framework governing our Armed Forces reflects the practical realities of military operations, and that those who served with honour are properly protected.

“Where the UK undertakes military action, it complies fully with UK and international law. We are clear that upholding those standards does not prevent our Armed Forces from conducting effective operations.”

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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/21/sas-veteran-special-forces-exodus-threatens-uk-us-alliance/

https://archive.is/HxyGG

SAS veteran: Special forces exodus threatens UK-US alliance

Relations with Washington under threat as British troops quit over war crime ‘witch hunts’

Resignations by Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers risk piling fresh strain on Britain’s alliance with the US, an ex-SAS chief has warned.

Lt Col Richard Williams, a former commanding officer of 22 SAS, said he feared the exodus of special forces troops had become a “national security risk”.

It comes after The Telegraph revealed “significant” numbers of SAS soldiers were quitting over fears they would be subjected to “witch hunts” by human rights lawyers for past actions carried out under government orders.

Lt Col Williams said the resignations would concern America, whose special forces work closely with the UK, and could harm relations between Washington and Whitehall, which are increasingly fraught.

“The Americans bring scale, resources, helicopters, drones. We bring highly trained personnel. If that capability is diminished, it affects not just us but the wider alliance… It is putting national security at risk,” he told LBC News.

Sir Keir Starmer is under immense pressure to boost the military after Donald Trump’s attack on Iran showed how ill-prepared Britain was for war.

Pat Harrigan, a US representative and former Green Beret in the American special forces, also expressed his concerns. He wrote on X: “This is not good for America or its allies, and only serves to reduce our readiness and embolden our adversaries.”

Mr Trump has previously been scathing of the Prime Minister, branding him “no Winston Churchill” while also sharing disparaging videos mocking Sir Keir, including one Saturday Night Live skit which depicted him as being terrified to speak to the US president.

Sir Keir now faces a potential crisis within the SAS after several sources said soldiers from 22 SAS, the Army’s most elite fighting force, had applied for premature voluntary release.

The Telegraph is withholding the exact figure for security reasons, but at least two squadrons, D and G, are believed to have been affected. Several SAS sources described the losses as significant and a “threat to national security”.

War crime ‘witch hunts’

Insiders say the resignations have been driven by anger at recent war crime investigations into Afghanistan and Syria, which have been described as “witch hunts”.

The treatment of elderly Northern Ireland veterans who served in the SAS has also contributed, insiders say. The perception is that they have been hounded through the courts on vexatious claims, some of which have been described as “ludicrous” by a judge.

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Mr Harrigan, who also serves on the House armed services committee in Congress, said the SAS was losing manpower because operators are “more afraid of a knock on the door from a human rights lawyer than they are of the enemy”.

He said the British Government’s response was “essentially a shrug”, adding: “As someone who served in special forces, I can tell you that when you break the trust between a government and its warriors and let lawyers turn combat decisions into courtroom spectacles, you do not just lose soldiers, you lose the will to fight.”

He added that allowing human rights laws to “retrospectively” dominate how elite “tier one” soldiers, such as the SAS, can wage war against mass murderers and terror groups was “not just ludicrous – it’s dangerous”.

“This is not good for America or its allies, and only serves to reduce our readiness and embolden our adversaries,” he added.

The Telegraph understands Mr Harrigan has received briefings from senior, retired British military officials about the “persecution” that Northern Ireland veterans are facing.

It comes after Labour decided to scrap the Conservatives’ Northern Ireland Legacy Act, which provided immunity for British troops who served during the conflict.

Labour said the Tory legislation did not comply with human rights laws, and is instead seeking to introduce its own Troubles bill.

However, armed forces campaigners alongside retired military chiefs and SAS veterans have warned the Government’s bill offers “inadequate” protections and could expose former soldiers to vexatious court claims.

Mr Harrigan has joined forces with Joni Ernst, an Iowa senator, who spent 23 years in the US military and now sits on Congress’s armed forces committee, to draft a resolution to “condemn the political prosecution of special operators by our allies”.

Labour’s Troubles bill ‘unworkable’ and ‘egregious’

On Wednesday, Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland Secretary, is expected to be questioned over the human rights implications of Labour’s bill by the joint committee on human rights.

Three associations representing thousands of troops from the SAS, Special Boat Service and Special Reconnaissance Regiment say the bill is “unworkable” and an “egregious infringement of veterans’ rights”.

Campaigners have asked for amendments to the law, which would ensure no new court cases or investigations without “compelling new evidence”, independently assessed by a judge in England or Wales.

“We don’t seek immunity, we simply seek fairness. We will protect our members and defend our interests with a robust legal challenge should this bill instead proceed in a manner that is neither fair nor proportionate,” the three special forces associations said in a joint statement.

Alex Burghart, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, told The Telegraph: “The Government needs to kill this unloved bill. Veterans are being dragged through the courts on ludicrous grounds decades after the event. It is time to draw a line and move on.”

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