Johnny Mercer's witness statement

[PR1Berske]

Taken from Prospect:
Full article: The remarkable witness statement of Johnny Mercer

Quotes:

An extraordinary witness statement has been published. You can read it here. Indeed, before you read this post any further, click into the witness statement and read it. The statement tells one of the most remarkable stories. It reads like a treatment for a film; its screen rights should be optioned without delay.

As with many good stories, it has an unlikely protagonist. And here the protagonist is the government minister and former soldier Johnny Mercer.

You may have heard of him. In particular, you may have come across his sheer disdain for certain lawyers and for what he sees as vexatious litigation against those who have served in the armed forces.


And in this respect, he has been quite effective. Two acts of parliament—the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act 2021 and Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023—exist in good part because of his drive and determination. Both statutes make it more difficult for former service personnel to face legal accountability.

The witness statement tells us how Mercer pieced various things together to shake his beliefs and to fuel his increasing concern. But, like the unlikely protagonist in many other stories, he is getting nowhere and is being obstructed and brushed off.

He demands to see more evidence. He wants to see the full motion videos of the detention operations. Such evidence has been telling in Australia for showing that Australian special forces allegedly killed unarmed Afghans. But he is told that no video footage is available. He does not believe this to be true.

The impression one gets both from the witness statement and the oral evidence Mercer has now given is that he believes he was used—“gamed” is his word—by the Ministry of Defence. His passion for protecting veterans from what calls “lawfare” was exploited by more senior ministers and officials in getting legal protection onto the statute books, but the full picture was kept from him. This impression is probably accurate, and it explains the anger that is plain in his evidence.

Mercer, a junior minister, then decides to write a letter to his own secretary of state, Ben Wallace. This letter, from August 2020, is now also in the public domain—and, like the witness statement, it should be read in full.

The content of this letter is also huge. For example, in the letter Mercer explains that he read out statements to the House of Commons which others in the Ministry of Defence must have known to be false. As Mercer said in oral evidence, “I was very cross that I had been allowed to make a statement in the House of Commons in January that year that was clearly incorrect when faced with the evidence that existed within my own department—and for me that was a kind of red line being crossed, in terms of, you know, ‘we're not on the same side here.’”

 

[bellaozzydog]

Mercer was always a naive helpful idiot for the Tories.

Boundless energy, ex military, but not very clever.

Predictable that he is suprised he’s been “Gamed” by the big dogs.

A man who would be politically out of his depth at a provincial swimming club AGM

 

[tommers]

Seems to me that Mr Mercer is covering his arse. He knew about this shit and his worry wasn't "we should not rest until this is sorted out" but "I'm in the middle of it and it's going to make me look bad". Referring it to your boss and trusting the process is all well and good but he already knew he was being kept in the dark.

And... not to go off topic but what the fuck is going on here? Gilet and suit jacket?

 

[Pickman's model]

Seems to me that Mr Mercer is covering his arse. He knew about this shit and his worry wasn't "we should not rest until this is sorted out" but "I'm in the middle of it and it's going to make me look bad". Referring it to your boss and trusting the process is all well and good but he already knew he was being kept in the dark.

And... not to go off topic but what the fuck is going on here? Gilet and suit jacket?

View attachment 416804

for that alone he should be hauled in front of some sort of tribunal

 

[Pickman's model]

Taken from Prospect:
Full article: The remarkable witness statement of Johnny Mercer

Quotes:

tbh it does make you wonder how many other statements from defence ministers of a variety of ranks have been er bollocks. and not just defence ministers...

 

[tommers]

tbh it does make you wonder how many other statements from defence ministers of a variety of ranks have been er bollocks. and not just defence ministers...

Yeah isn't he admitting that he lied in Parliament and knew that it was lying?

 

[Pickman's model]

Yeah isn't he admitting that he lied in Parliament and knew that it was lying?

it seems that way - or at least he found out later that he'd lied and doesn't appear to have visited the house to correct the statement

 

[Ming]

Ian Hislop's not a fan.

 

[zahir]

Minister told to name sources in Afghan inquiry or face potential jail term

Johnny Mercer given 10 days to reveal source of claims British troops engaged in war crimes

www.theguardian.com

Mercer in effect admitted last month in front of the public inquiry into the claims that he believed members of the SAS had engaged in dozens of unlawful killings of Afghan civilians between 2010 and 2013.

But he repeatedly refused to hand over names of “multiple officers” who he claimed told him about allegations of murder and a cover-up during his time as a backbench MP.

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave , the chair of the Afghanistan inquiry, told him last month that his decision to “refuse to answer legitimate questions … at a public inquiry” were “disappointing … surprising … and completely unacceptable”.

 

[brogdale]

Minister told to name sources in Afghan inquiry or face potential jail term

Johnny Mercer given 10 days to reveal source of claims British troops engaged in war crimes

www.theguardian.com

The inquiry chair appears to be pinning Mercer down...

 

[Larry O'Hara]

You complain about the lack of principles in polittics, but when a politician does something principled he
1) gets called naive
2) has his dress sense questioned
3) gets jumped on for not having acted earlier
And my loathing for that village gnome Hislop is so great I haven’t watched the exchange: but if Mercer was skewering the little turd, well done him

 

[two sheds]

Although difficult for him if he was told in "strict confidence"?

 

[brogdale]

Although difficult for him if he was told in "strict confidence"?

His call; honour his word to comrades or go to jail.

 

[likesfish]

well after the Danny boy enquiry turned into a crock of shit
innocent Farmers rounded up tortured and executed according to the survivors

turned out to be milita members wanting a payout and the "human rights" lawyers knew this but carried on somehow CSI Afghanistan isn't going to provide any evidence worth shit.
much like the Kenyan rape investigation over 2000 interviews 200 possible worth of further investigations but nothing useable to put in front of a court lot of very badly forged documents produced.

 

[Calamity1971]

His practice run on ' banged up' should help him settle in

Johnny Mercer: Ex-veterans minister could face jail for not revealing soldiers' names in Afghanistan killings probe

The Tory former minister and ex-officer revealed he had been told by officers about murders that took place during the Afghanistan War and their cover up.

news.sky.com

 

[Pickman's model]

His practice run on ' banged up' should help him settle in

Johnny Mercer: Ex-veterans minister could face jail for not revealing soldiers' names in Afghanistan killings probe

The Tory former minister and ex-officer revealed he had been told by officers about murders that took place during the Afghanistan War and their cover up.

news.sky.com

He's picked a really good time as the gaols are full to bursting, making a custodial sentence less likely

So I am not confident he'll be imprisoned