Commenting on the Secretary of State for Defence’s apology for his Department’s failure to provide sufficient information to the High Court hearing into the deaths of six Iraqis following ’the battle of Danny Boy’ in Iraq in 2004, former Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Menzies Campbell said:
“The Ministry of Defence should hang its head in shame at the trenchant criticisms of the High Court.
“For a Government Department to be accused of ‘wasting time’ in legal proceedings of this kind is monstrous. The Secretary of State says that he is going to set up an inquiry into the allegations of torture and murder but he should also order an immediate inquiry into the operation of his department. How can it be that a Government Department dealing with issues of such sensitivity and importance could have failed to fulfil its duty to the court? Let no one doubt this is a matter of the utmost seriousness.â€
