See for example,The Use of armed force by UK military personnel has been unlawful in UK law since 20th July 2000 and An account of the illegality of the UK military action in Afghanistan since 2001 for introductions to various aspects of this important topic.
If we assume that the UK's military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are "terrorism" several things follow, one of which is that Gordon Brown has committed very serious criminal offences contrary to Section 15 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
For convenience, I'll reproduce the text of Section 15 here:
15 Fund-raising
(1) A person commits an offence if he—
(a) invites another to provide money or other property, and
(b) intends that it should be used, or has reasonable cause to suspect that it may be used, for the purposes of terrorism.
(2) A person commits an offence if he—
(a) receives money or other property, and
(b) intends that it should be used, or has reasonable cause to suspect that it may be used, for the purposes of terrorism.
(3) A person commits an offence if he—
(a) provides money or other property, and
(b) knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that it will or may be used for the purposes of terrorism.
(4) In this section a reference to the provision of money or other property is a reference to its being given, lent or otherwise made available, whether or not for consideration.
In his evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry on 5th March 2010, Gordon Brown stated that he had provided around £9 billion to support the Iraq War.
Given that the Iraq War is "terrorism" then Gordon Brown has, in his roles as Chancellor of the Exchequer and then First Lord of the Treasury (Prime Minister) used some £9 billion of public funds to fund "terrorism" in Iraq, contrary to Section 15 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Futher, since 2001 estimates indicate that Gordon Brown, in his aforementioned roles, has used about £12 billion of public money in Afghanistan, contrary to Section 15 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
In total Gordon Brown has used some £20 billion of public money for purposes which are unlawful.
I believe that Gordon Brown in so doing has committed the largest financial crimes in United Kingdom history.
Actually under the principles set out at the Nuremberg tribunals, Gordon Brown was bound by international law even for treaties that the UK has not ratified provided that they have been ratified by a significant number of other states for a significant period of time such as to have become normative.
ReplyDeleteIn either case, the planning, preparation, initiation and waging of a war of aggression constitute the "supreme international crime" in that they enable all further war crimes. Those convicted of this offence at Nuremberg were met with the death penalty. The death penalty, under international law, is reserved only for "crimes of the most serious nature." Gordon Brown is subject to international law regardless of UK primary legislation.