Why is veterans minister Johnny Mercer facing jail over the special forces inquiry?

John Rentoul on the extraordinary standoff between an experienced minister and a judge heading a public inquiry

Johnny Mercer shows no sign of yielding in the face of the inquiry chair’s demand (James Manning/PA Wire)

Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister, has been given until 5 April to reveal the names of special forces officers who told him about war crimes in Afghanistan – and he faces being fined or up to a year in jail if he refuses.

He is understood to have promised whistleblowing troops that he would protect their identity if they came forward with what they knew about the unlawful killings by British troops of unarmed Afghans, information that he has passed to the public inquiry into allegations of such crimes.

However, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, the former judge who is chairing the inquiry, has accused Mercer of a “misguided understanding of the term integrity and an inappropriate sense of loyalty”, and has served the minister with a notice under the Inquiries Act 2005 requiring him to supply the names to the inquiry in confidence.