Human rights 'apply to UK troops'

[gedhrel]

From the BBC:

Human rights laws can be applied to British troops on active service, a High Court judge has ruled.

Ministers are appealing against the ruling.

Nice way to support the troops, don't you think?

Comments

[jonnycowbells]

I have mixed views on this kind of thing. I would like to think that if you sign up for the armed forces you know what you're getting into. The current recruitment crisis indicates people know exactly what they'd be getting into. Also, fighting a war is always going to be brutal, messy, nasty, horific work. Give your soldiers every chance, but I can't think of any area of business, or life in general, where you get everything you want. Add hostile environments, guns and bombs to the mix and you have to draw the line somewhere, right?

Plus, I wonder how many pence you'd have to add to income tax in order to bring defence spending to the 'required' level, and I wonder how far you'd get before those people talking about the government's 'moral responsibility' start voting for the other guy. My guess is not very far at all, and I suspect that our grandparents are turning in their graves.

[flitljm]

This seems like interesting stuff. Do we apply human rights law to whoever British troops are fighting too? I seem to remember the right to life being fairly fundamental, but I may be stuck on UN Convention rather than UK law.

[gedhrel]

It certainly does^Wought to to civilians.