The ECHR is destroying British army morale

Nine retired senior military officers have written an open letter to warn that the expansion of human rights legislation is damaging morale within Britain’s armed forces and undermining their effectiveness. These are among our most eminent generals: all have held four-star rank; three have served as Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, and one is a former Chief of the Air Staff, the RAF equivalent.

Their argument is this. Human rights legislation, especially an ‘ever-broadening interpretation’ of the European Convention on Human Rights, is being used to re-examine actions taken by armed forces personnel in combat. This is being done ‘to fight political or ideological battles’ and to say that decisions made in combat situations were in breach of the law, e