Military commanders are being offered legal insurance to protect themselves against future battlefield claims, it was revealed yesterday.

Insurance firms are cashing in on fears among senior officers that they may be liable for claims under human rights and health and safety legislation.

But applying such legislation to the military could prevent Britain winning wars and the ‘litigation circus’ was ‘torturing the Armed Forces’, the Lords heard.

Fears: Insurance firms are cashing in on senior officers' concerns that they may be liable for claims under human rights and health and safety legislation (file image of a

Former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Boyce attacked the ‘increasing legal encirclement of our Armed Forces’ and what he described as ‘lawfare’.

The cross-bench peer told the Lords there was growing concern in the Armed Forces about ‘crown immunity – or the lack of it – in warfare situations’.


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