Justice Secretary Liz Truss declares war on tank-chasing lawyers and vows to stop taxpayers’ cash funding their claims
The Tory rising star promised far-reaching changes to the legal aid regime
JUSTICE Secretary Liz Truss declared war on the tank chasers hounding our troops yesterday by vowing to stop taxpayers’ cash funding their “vexatious” claims.
The Tory rising star promised far-reaching changes to the legal aid regime to ensure spurious allegations never get off the ground.
The pledge came just days after PM Theresa May said she would unveil a fresh assault on war crimes witch hunts amid calls for the Government to kill-off historical abuse claims from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
Ms Truss said what had been happening was “completely outrageous”.
And she vowed: “I absolutely understand the anger.
“I feel angry that our public money has been spent on such things which nobody would support.
“I will be looking at how we best make sure that it doesn’t happen again and looking into what’s happened in the past.”
She added: “It’s completely outrageous what’s been happening, when people go overseas and serve our country and are then pursued by spurious claims.”
The Iraq Historical Allegations Team (IHAT) was originally looking into 152 cases in 2010 but the number has since exploded to more than 1,500.
Furious defence chiefs claim lawyers have abused the legal aid system to mount a wave of trivial and vexatious cases.
Phil Shiner’s Public Interest Lawyers trousered over £3 million in legal aid before the notorious company was blacklisted - forcing it to fold at the end of August.
A public inquiry triggered by PIL clients found some witnesses had lied about murder and torture allegedly committed by British troops.
In January Colonel Richard Kemp called for a ban on legal aid to foreign citizens making claims against our troops.