Tory MP in charge of Iraq war veterans probe sent texts by the MoD telling him to be less critical of the Government
Some of the texts were sent to former army officer Johnny Mercer in the middle of the night
TORY SQUADDIES hero Johnny Mercer claims Ministry of Defence officials are trying to SMEAR him over his campaigning work.
The MP leading the charge against the Iraqi war crimes witch-hunt said MoD staff have tried to pressure him into laying off the Government.
Some of the texts were sent to Johnny Mercer in the middle of the night, said.
And one parliamentary colleague told Mr Mercer he had been asked to write a negative piece about him for a newspaper.
Rather than write it, he told his pal.
Mr Mercer said: “The officials are interested in protecting [Defence Secretary] Michael Fallon but what I am interested in is the British military and how it is allowed to operate.
“There have been texts at one o’clock on the morning, I don’t want to go into detail, but they have been as a consequence of articles in newspapers and things I have said in public.
“The texts have been critical of my approach.
“They have been from civilians in the Ministry of Defence, saying what I am doing is not helpful to the Government."
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The MP will release a report in the New Year into the operations of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat) which investigates complaints against UK troops.
An MoD spokesman said: "The Government is determined to stop spurious legal claims against our troops and looks forward to considering recommendations from Johnny Mercer's committee."
Mr Mercer clashed with Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon when he gave evidence to the Commons Defence Committee on Ihat and the report is expected to be critical of the set-up.
The two Tories were at odds last week when Sir Michael faced claims ministers were more concerned about avoiding the UK being dragged to the International Criminal Court than protecting British troops from the "out of control" inquiry into alleged abuse during the Iraq war.
Sir Michael acknowledged the Ihat process was "very frustrating" and had been abused on an "industrial scale", but stressed that claims of criminal behaviour had to be properly investigated.
Mr Mercer, who chairs the Defence Select Committee's probe into Ihat, responded by saying there were "fundamental flaws" in the process and service personnel who had suffered "horrific" experiences should be the priority.
The Ihat inquiry has been dogged by controversy, including over the involvement of now defunct law firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL).
It emerged the MoD paid the law firm more than £200,000 this year while it was being investigated over a string of misconduct allegations.
Ihat continued to pay PIL while an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) - which followed a complaint from the Government - was under way.
Last week Mr Mercer slammed the Government over the Sun’s revelations that more than 300 murders in Northern Ireland would be investigated afresh in a new witch-hunt by prosecutors in the province.