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L/Cpl Brian Wood is the bravest of the brave. His actions on the battlefield in Iraq in 2004 earned him a Military Cross, the medal pinned on to his chest by Elizabeth II at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace. It was the proudest moment of his life.
What he didn’t know then was that a dark cloud was gathering, one that would loom large over the heads of L/Cpl Wood and the other courageous soldiers who fought alongside him at the Battle of Danny Boy for years to come.
L/Cpl Wood said he had gone ‘through hell for years’ and Lord Hermer should resign |
Because, at about the same time that L/Cpl Wood received his Military Cross, human rights lawyers were starting to get interested in claims – which proved to be wild and false – that British troops had captured Iraqis alive, taken them back to their base and executed them.
What The Telegraph can now disclose is that Lord Hermer, currently Sir Keir Starmer’s Attorney General, was a leading lawyer in what would turn out to be the most egregious “witch hunt” against British troops in modern history. The Telegraph has analysed 25,000 pages of legal documents that show Hermer’s key role working with Iraqi clients, who, despite their claims of innocence, were actually members of the Mahdi Army, an Iran-backed insurgent group trying to kill British troops in southern Iraq.
Lord Hermer, the PM’s closest Cabinet ally, pressed on with claims despite repeated warnings that his eight Iraqi clients were ‘on the make’ |
What the documents also show is how, time after time, warnings were raised about the credibility of his clients. The reality was that they were barefaced liars. They had claimed troops had executed Iraqi civilians back at a British army base. That just never happened, and yet the case, advised on by Hermer, rumbled on and on and on.
Hermer is a long-time friend of Starmer. Both were barristers in the same human rights chambers, and they worked together on other Iraq war claims that paved the way for the hounding of British troops. Hermer won’t go over The Telegraph’s extraordinary revelations. Not least because Starmer, bloodied and on the ropes, can’t afford to lose his closest ally in the Cabinet – but the Attorney General should resign.
This exclusive investigation is available only to subscribers.
Continue reading ➤
‘The Queen decorated me for bravery. Then Hermer put me through hell’ ➤ |
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Chris Harvey |
The new biopic of Michael Jackson will be an enormous hit. Projections suggest that Michael will earn $150m this weekend, despite terrible reviews. Jackson continues to fascinate, not least because his life was touched by so much strangeness and scandal. He made a lot of great music, yet may also have been a relentless sexual predator.
So who was the real Michael? With co-writer Lucy Denyer, I went in search of the story of this unique figure. Lucy visited his impoverished hometown of Gary, Indiana, and talked to the people who knew him as a boy. I read the biographies, listened endlessly to his albums and spoke to his collaborators to try to understand how he created some of the most indelible pop of the past 60 years.
The picture that emerged gave us a new sense of his genius, as well as his trauma and the ways in which it manifested.
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Telegraph View Decorated troops spent a decade facing false accusations Continue reading ➤
Tim Stanley Starmer puts Mandelson matter to bed ... but it’s had two Red Bulls and a black coffee Continue reading ➤
Kara Kennedy Angry young women are driving men into the arms of cougars Continue reading ➤ |
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Zoe Garbett has been described in some quarters as the Green Party’s ‘secret weapon’ |
The last time that Hackney was run by any party other than Labour was 1970, writes Genevieve Holl-Allen, our Political Correspondent. However, a growing frustration with the party on a local and national level threatens to bring its rule to an end. I visited the borough to find out why it is projected to go Green in May, and why it could be because of a conflict 2,000 miles away. Continue reading ➤ |
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Andrew Weber (right) transported trucks filled with uranium as part of Project Sapphire in Kazakhstan |
It’s been three decades since Andrew Weber, a former US foreign service officer, helped to ship the equivalent of 20 nuclear bombs of uranium from Kazakhstan to the US in a top-secret mission. Now, it could act as a blueprint for Donald Trump as he seeks to remove enriched uranium from Iran, Weber believes. Natasha Leake spoke to him to understand why. Continue reading ➤ |
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Teresa, left, and as a baby with Patricia Ann, whom she grew up believing to be her mother |
When Teresa Carter’s husband, Lee, suggested taking an at-home DNA test to discover more about his family tree, he asked her if she had any questions about her own genealogy. She didn’t, but the website was running a two-for-one offer, so she agreed to join him and send off a sample. What happened next turned her world upside down. Continue reading ➤ |
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An advertisement on SpareRoom, a website where users can create and respond to listings looking for housemates and lodgers |
Looking for a room to rent in modern Britain? Well, good luck if you are a straight man, or a Tory for that matter. For men, Zionists, and people with Right-wing or gender-critical beliefs have been blocked from housing in defiance of equality laws, The Telegraph has found. Harry Brennan, our Consumer Affairs Editor, reports. Continue reading ➤ |
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Anna Haugh and Grace Dent immediately impress as the new MasterChef hosts, writes Anita Singh |
MasterChef has returned to television for its first regular series minus hosts John Torode and Gregg Wallace, and, according to our TV critic Anita Singh, “it’s surprising how smoothly the show rolls along without them.” As she points out: “Never again will you spy an attractive blonde contestant at the start of an episode and think: ‘Yep, she’s a shoo-in for the next round.’” Continue reading ➤ |
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Dame Joan paired a polka-dot print jacket with a simple black jumper at The Cut’s Golden Globes brunch in January |
Joan Collins may be 92, but she still knows how to dress for a night out. The Dynasty actress opts for statement jackets, bold brooches and metallic fabrics to bring some glamour to her looks, whether she’s hitting the red carpet or simply out for supper with Liz Hurley. Rebecca Cope details six key fashion lessons that we could all take note of. Continue reading ➤ Below is another helpful article for you this morning:
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Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, the most populous archipelago in Kiribati |
The archipelago of Kiribati may be only a series of specks in the Pacific, but for those few British tourists who make the 30-hour journey, it’s also a unique opportunity to experience the least-visited place on the planet, a paradise with a fascinating Second World War history.
Despite its great beauty, Kiribati’s geographical isolation keeps visitors away |
Scattered over a million square miles of ocean (the capital, Tarawa, sits halfway between Hawaii and Australia), this collection of tiny islands was “discovered” in 1788 by Englishman Thomas Gilbert, master of a convict-carrying ship bound for Australia. It became a Crown Colony in 1892 – remaining so for close to 90 years – and was occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War, as evidenced by a well-preserved array of bunkers, gun emplacements and tank wrecks.
Today, the islands are a serene idyll of white sand, clear water and sunshine, yet are visited by fewer than 3,000 international tourists each year.
Continue reading ➤ |
Nosy parkersEvery weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
Telegraph readers have been known to hold the odd opinion on matters of driving etiquette.
This was illustrated most recently by a letter from Tim Baker. “My father always backed his car into a parking space,” he recalled. “It was a habit he acquired during the war, when a speedy getaway could be the difference between life and death.
“As visitors to supermarkets are not faced with such a grim prospect, I am curious as to why so many do the same, given that the first thing most of them have to do on their return is transfer the contents of their trolley into the car’s boot.”
The question may have been posed in innocence, but the response was firm and unequivocal: a few shopping bags are no excuse for failing to do things properly.
“Some years ago”, wrote Steve Garratt, “I was sent on a ‘defensive driving’ course by my employer. The instructor was a former police driver, and he told me that 40 per cent of front and rear-end scrapes to cars were caused by people reversing out of spaces and hitting cars on either side, hitting obstacles in the bay or pulling into the path of a moving vehicle. Spending an extra minute reversing in significantly reduces the risk.”
Tim Burton added: “Several times, while travelling in the United States, we have witnessed fender benders caused by two cars parked in opposite ranks at the supermarket reversing out of their spaces into each other.”
Now, I was aware that parking nose-first tends to be frowned upon: my driving instructor would growl whenever he spotted another motorist doing it. Yet I’m inclined to be lenient, having suffered many a humiliation while attempting to back into a space, working myself into a clammy-palmed fluster in the glare of waiting drivers.
Maybe it’s not so clear-cut after all. Philip Brennan explained: “In one organisation I worked for, reverse parking on arrival was a career-shortening move, as the boss assumed that you were already thinking about going home before you had even reached your desk. At another place I worked, reverse parking was the norm, because many employees had to be ready to leave at short notice – sometimes with the blue lights flashing.” What’s your parking policy? Send your responses here and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of this newsletter.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. |
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Today is St George’s Day, so our travel team have compiled a list of 10 places that will make you proud to be English (if you are English, of course). One is Highclere Castle, perhaps most famous today for being the set for Downton Abbey, but in which county is it located?
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Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including The 1% Club, Cogs, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was NARRATING. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. |
Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow.
Chris Evans, Editor
P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here. |
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