PROTECTION

SAS veterans warn Britain will be at greater risk if a new law leads to more of them being pursued legally decades after a conflict.

- BY CHRIS HUGHES Defence and Security Editor

SAS veterans warn Britain will be at greater risk if a new law leads to more of them being pursued legally decades after a conflict.

Fewer are applying to the SAS due to legacy cases which may lead to dangerous undermanning in the special forces unit, one veteran tells us.

Numbers in one of the SAS squadrons have fallen significantly due to retention and recruitment problems, we have discovered.

The veterans claim they are not properly protected by the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, which aims to let families seek the truth about past incidents. And now the SAS Association say it might take the Government to court over the bill, which is going through Parliament.

SAS B Squadron and Parachute regiment vet Robert Craft, now 68, risked his own safety to speak exclusively to this newspaper.

He served for 10 years in the Paras and 14 years in the SAS, launching covert missions globally and undercover in Northern Ireland. He warned: "At such a dangerous time, with so many war risks ongoing and the threat from Russia, pressure on the SAS could be putting the UK in peril. If I was a young paratrooper again I'd do selection for the SAS but I might not have stayed in as long if I saw what was happening.

"There are ongoing SAS operations protecting the country.

"Something is going to happen in a place like London, whether it is in 10 minutes, an hour or a month, and you'll need the SAS on the ground."

SAS vets in their late 60s and 70s are facing investigation relating to their time served in Northern Ireland.

Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement many terrorists received "comfort" letters preventing them from prosecution. Under the new bill a Northern Ireland unit would look at Troubles cases, which could lead to more prosecutions.