Special forces recruitment is suffering as result of endless legal actions against soldiers, warns former brigadier
Tom CotterillDefence EditorShow biography
Published 31 August 2026 9:08pm BST
Witch hunts against British special forces put the country at risk from Russia, the head of the association that represents SAS soldiers has warned.
Brig Ed Butler, a retired former commanding officer of 22 SAS, said that recruitment into the elite unit was suffering as a result of repeated legal action against its members – weakening its ability to keep the country safe.
Mr Butler, the new president of the SAS Regimental Association (Sasra), accused the Government of “not having the backs” of personnel and warned that it was “seriously damaging morale” among serving troops.
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In the first interview by a head of Sasra, Mr Butler said the association was prepared to take legal action against the Government to protect soldiers who served in Northern Ireland from prosecution under Labour’s Troubles act and was instigating steps to raise a “fighting fund”.
He also attacked the use of human rights law to pursue soldiers for their actions on the battlefield.
Andy Burnham is preparing to bring the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill back before Parliament within days, as part of efforts to find “answers” for the families of those who died during the conflict.Mr Butler addressing his troops in Helmand Province during his deployment in AfghanistanCredit: Max Becherer
There are fears among members of the Armed Forces that the bill will reignite efforts to prosecute innocent soldiers for their actions in the Troubles, decades ago.
Mr Burnham is under pressure to scrap the bill entirely, with Al Carns, the former Armed Forces minister, warning on Monday that it could place British veterans in “endless legal jeopardy”.
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Mr Butler warned that some soldiers were deciding not to apply for SAS selection because of “lawfare” and concerns about the persecution of soldiers after more recent operations.
He said: “The very worst case scenario is you have a completely whittled-down special forces capability. Because no one would be prepared to join it and do these high-risk, high-return operations if their back isn’t covered.
“It’s not just a special forces thing, it’s across the Armed Forces. If it gets worse this will be very detrimental to national security.”
Mr Butler spoke out amid fears that Russia could be preparing to test Nato.
Last week, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman said Britain and France were “playing with fire” by supporting Ukraine. Western intelligence officials have warned that Vladimir Putin is waging a sabotage campaign and there is the risk of a “miscalculation” that could lead to conflict.
Mr Butler – who was accused of murder in 2012 over his work in Northern Ireland, before a court threw the case out – said that the SAS was a crucial part of Britain’s defence, but that ministers were letting it down.
Speaking to The Telegraph from his Herefordshire home, he said: “I think there’s a serious question about the trust between the state and its Armed Forces and quite how far that is being breached.
“Has the Government got the special forces and SAS communities’ backs? I think it’s very questionable.”Mr Butler meets schoolchildren in Kabul in 2006. He said inquiries into British soldiers’ actions threatened the trust between the Armed Forces and the state
His intervention is the first time a head of Sasra has publicly attacked the Government and is being seen as a warning shot to the Prime Minister from the SAS, as MPs return to Parliament this week.
The dramatic shift represents the deepening level of concern within the UK’s closely knit special forces community over the Troubles bill and the ongoing Haddon-Cave inquiry into alleged unlawful killings by the SAS in Afghanistan.
“We’re really serious about this because you’re failing to recognise that you’ve got to have the backs of your servicemen and women,” added Mr Butler, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 2002.
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“Has trust been broken? I don’t think there is far to go before it is. Remember, trust goes both ways and if you want to maintain the world’s premiere special forces organisation, you’ve got to look after it.”
Mr Butler was critical of the use of human rights law to prosecute soldiers operating in combat environments.
He said that soldiers were pursued “through the prism of human rights laws, as opposed to the law of armed conflict and the rules of engagement from the Geneva Convention”, describing this as “totally inappropriate” for armed conflict.
‘We were there to save lives’
Lawyers, including Sir Keir Starmer when he was a barrister before entering politics, have used the European Convention on Human Rights to compel the Government to investigate the use of force by its soldiers abroad.
The SAS is facing significant investigations into alleged wrongdoing.
An inquiry led by Lord Justice Charles Haddon-Cave is exploring claims the special forces executed captives in Afghanistan and destroyed evidence of wrongdoing.
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Launched in March 2023 after evidence emerged suggesting 80 or more unarmed Afghans were executed by soldiers from 2010 to 2013, it is not expected to conclude until 2028.
Around 150 SAS soldiers who served in Afghanistan have been warned that they face questioning or a demand for written evidence as part of the inquiry being held at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Gen Sir Roly Walker, head of the Army, previously insisted the inquiry had his “full co-operation and support” and said he expected “all levels of the chain of command” to co-operate.
But Mr Butler, who served as the first commander of British Forces in Afghanistan in 2006, feared the inquiry was brushing over vital “context” about the dangerous work the SAS had been ordered to do to dismantle Taliban bomb factories.
He said between 2008 and 2013, the number of fatalities from improvised explosive devices dropped dramatically from 168 per year to only five after the special forces stepped in. “We were there to save lives,” he added.
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The Telegraph previously revealed a number of SAS personnel had decided to quit the unit, with sources blaming concerns over the inquiry as the driving force.
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At the same time, the Government is looking to push forward the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill despite growing concerns it will expose elderly veterans to vexatious court claims.
The legislation will replace the Legacy Act, introduced by the former Conservative administration, which effectively banned all Troubles-era prosecutions, inquests and civil cases.
Labour intends to pass a watered-down alternative, agreed in concert with the Irish government in Dublin. It includes a legacy commission intended to investigate killings from that era.
However, critics have warned there is not enough protection for British veterans, with nine former four-star military chiefs last year going so far as branding the law a “national security risk”.
Mr Carns, a senior Labour MP, who served for 24 years in the Royal Marines, backed a new report from the Policy Exchange calling for the Government to withdraw the legislation.Campaigners protest outside Westminster against the prosecution of Northern Ireland veterans Credit: Heathcliff O’Malley for The Telegraph
In a foreword to the think tank’s report, Mr Carns said: “No soldier should be above the law. Equally, no soldier should face endless legal jeopardy.
“Accountability is not the same as perpetual investigation. Justice is not served when the process itself becomes the punishment.”
The Policy Exchange report urges the Government to withdraw the new bill and bring an end to the retrospective application of human rights law.
It argues that veterans are being unfairly held to standards that did not exist at the time they served, potentially exposing them to stressful investigations and even prosecution in their old age.
The report is also backed by Lord Glasman, the founder of the influential Blue Labour movement, who warned that any pursuit of prosecutions against former troops could damage military morale and recruitment.
‘We’re prepared to escalate situation’
The Troubles Bill has been carried over from the last parliamentary session and is now in committee stage, where MPs subject the legislation to line-by-line scrutiny.
Mr Butler said: “As an association, we will robustly defend any of our members who are going to be impacted and further persecuted. But if we have to escalate this, we are prepared to.”
The 64-year-old added special forces’ missions in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan were meticulously planned and usually approved by the head of the military or the prime minister.
But he said: “Have you ever seen any minister or secretary of state in the dock, or going in front of these major inquiries? It doesn’t happen.
“Ultimately the audit trail, for all these things, goes back to the very highest levels of government, and that’s where accountability sits.
“Unless you’re going to stand by that, then don’t expect your special forces people to deploy night after night, risking their lives so that ordinary people can sleep safely in their beds.”
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Labour is planning a series of amendments to provide greater protection for Northern Ireland veterans.
Mr Burnham insisted he would take the same approach to getting answers for Troubles victims as he did for families affected by the Hillsborough tragedy, in which 97 Liverpool fans lost their lives in 1989.
Speaking in Belfast on Thursday, the Prime Minister said: “There are families here, there are obviously people, veterans and their families, there are lots of people still seeking answers and it is right to put in place a legislative framework that will allow the commission to do its work, to provide answers to people who are still looking for them.
“That was the approach I took over Hillsborough. It is something that means a great deal to me.”
Mr Butler was speaking in his role as an SAS veteran on behalf of serving personnel, who are unable to do so while still in the military.
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