British armed forces minister set for Commons grilling

BRITISH armed forces minister Adam Ingram was yesterday preparing for one of the most important days of his political career.

Mr Ingram is expected to appear in the Commons today to explain when he first heard allegations that Iraqi prisoners had been mistreated by British troops, amid Tory claims he “materially misled” MPs last week when he denied having received reports of abuse.

His appearance comes less than six weeks after former immigration minister Beverley Hughes quit her post after wrongly saying she had not been informed about problems involving visas for eastern Europeans.

Speculation was rife in Westminster over whether Mr Ingram would be forced to follow Ms Hughes’ example and become the first ministerial casualty of the furore surrounding the treatment of Iraqi prisoners.

It was thought more likely he would simply offer MPs an apology for inadvertently misleading them.

Mr Ingram was asked in the Commons last week whether he had received reports from external organisations about the way in which detainees had been handled, and responded: “To date I have received no such reports.”

His comments were contradicted days later by human rights group Amnesty International, which pointed out that it sent the Ministry of Defence a dossier detailing alleged abuses last November, and received an acknowledgement from Mr Ingram himself.