Britain’s elite Special Air Service is facing a worrying loss of senior personnel, with claims that years of “lawfare” have helped drive experienced soldiers out of the regiment.

Conservative MP Sir David Davis, who is pushing a parliamentary effort to address the issue, said veteran SAS troops are leaving amid what he described as persistent legal pressure from lawyers. He warned the trend risks “compromising” the UK’s national security.

Sir David pointed to the recent departure of eight Warrant Officers, all of whom had served for decades, calling their resignations “a huge loss to Special Forces”.

One of the SAS’s four “sabre squadrons” is also understood to be seriously short of senior soldiers after a wave of departures from the regiment. The precise number who have left cannot be made public for security reasons.

Sir David, himself a former SAS reservist, argued that members of the special forces unit are becoming increasingly “risk averse” in combat because of fears they could face legal action years after operations have ended.

‘In recent conflicts we have won the war but lost the law. The effect is felt worst by Special Forces soldiers,’ Sir David said.

He added: ‘They are resigning over this issue. So we must be more robust about pushing back against human rights law. Otherwise we will compromise UK and international security.

‘The UK provides eight Special Forces squadrons, so does the US. So this country accounts for half the world’s premier ‘SF’ capability.

‘Soldiers are saying to their officers ‘Do I need my lawyer with me?’ Before they deploy. The problem is making our most elite units more risk-averse.’

His comments come as Sir David prepares to table the Military Operations Bill in Parliament, which if passed would put time limits on investigations and demand ‘public-interest and compelling-evidence thresholds’ before soldiers are hauled into probes over their conduct.

The Mail’s Stop the SAS Betrayal campaign has raised the profile of this issue, highlighting historical cases in Northern Ireland from the Troubles era.

The special forces unit also remains under the microscope at the High Court due to the ongoing Independent Inquiry Relating to Afghanistan, which is examining claims that its soldiers executed Taliban suspects while they were in UK custody.

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The Bill would ensure that soldiers operating in wartime are not subjected to laws written to cover peacetime scenarios.

Its central premise is to distinguish between genuine wrongdoing and legal processes that risk becoming detached from operational reality.

Key provisions of the Bill also include direct ministerial authorisation of force, designed to curtail lawfare against soldiers, by establishing a panel of military experts to determine cases and provide enhanced support and safeguards for service personnel.

Senior ministers would also be required to sign off on operations, thereby ensuring accountability remains with the chain of command and with government rather than with the courts.

Personnel would be shielded from civil or criminal liability ‘when acting in accordance with international humanitarian law [also known as the Law of Armed Conflict]’.

Coroners will be required to consult an Expert Military Panel in combat-related deaths, thereby protecting service personnel from self-incrimination and ensuring that inquiries remain focused on fact-finding rather than retrospective blame.

While the Bill only stands a slim chance of becoming law Sir David is said to be working with Conservative colleagues in a bid to ensure many of its clauses are adopted by the party as part of its manifesto at the next General Election.

Former SAS commanders contributed to the research upon which the prospective legislation is based. Those involved include Jamie Lowther Pinkerton, a close friend and mentor to Princes William and Harry.

The introduction of the Bill comes after the SAS Regimental Association (SASRA), which represents past and present members of the unit, criticised Labour’s proposed Troubles Bill, which while designed to help bereaved families find answers about those who died during the Northern Ireland conflict has been accused of being ‘not fit for purpose’ amid worries it could reignite persecution of innocent soldiers.

The Ministry of Defence said: ‘Our commitment to our service personnel and veterans is unshakable, and that will be clear in the forthcoming amendments package to the Troubles Bill, which builds on already existing protections, including safeguards from cold calling.

‘This means that no veteran will face a knock on their door, and there will be protection from repeat investigations.

‘The Troubles Bill will pave the way for all families in their search for the truth of what happened to their loved ones.’

A senior Young Labor figure who has previously been photographed with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been suspended from his job after allegedly organising an event to celebrate the death of US conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck while speaking to a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University in Orem on September 10 last year.

Tyler Robinson, 23, has pleaded not guilty to all charges linked to Kirk’s death, including aggravated murder. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

The controversy erupted after the left-wing parody account ‘Australian Child Labor’ shared a now-deleted social media invitation promoting ‘celebration drinks’ to mark the anniversary of Kirk’s death.

The post was titled ‘1st Kirkversary Celebration Drinks’ and featured a smiling image of the US activist alongside Anthony Albanese, which appeared to have been generated using AI.

The date was set for the anniversary of Kirk’s death at Forest Lodge Hotel.

Former Sydney University Labor president William Yang owns the account, which has also published content mocking the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. 

On his personal social media accounts, Yang shared a photograph with Anthony Albanese in 2022 as well as images from a Labor event as recently as 2026. 

Yang is an employee at the Australian Transport Workers Union (TWU), according to his LinkedIn profile.

But the union told the Daily Mail on Tuesday that he has been suspended.

‘The TWU has been made aware that one of its employees promoted this event on social media,’ a spokesperson said.

‘The event is repugnant, it should be cancelled, the person in question will not be attending, and has been suspended from his employment.’ 

Yang is a prominent figure among young Labor activists. 

He attended the 50th Labor Federal Conference in Adelaide, where he published an account of his time, including discussions with elected Labor officials, in the University of Sydney student publication Honi Soit. 

The identification of Yang as the person behind the account comes a day after Communications Minister Anika Wells used Question Time to call for stronger protections for young Australians from harmful and extremist content on social media. 

‘We want to protect and improve the lives and wellbeing of young people, and the social media ban is just the starting point,’ she said on Monday.

‘It’s not a ban on our kids; it’s a ban on what is being done to them.’

It is not the first time Yang’s public comments have conflicted with positions adopted by the Labor Party. 

His video mocking the Tiananmen Square massacre, the historic tragedy when Chinese troops opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing in 1989, contrasts with the position of senior Labor figures including Foreign Minister Penny Wong. 

Wong has repeatedly condemned the event, which saw at least 200 people killed.

‘In Tiananmen Square, 35 years ago, the world witnessed the use of brutal force against student protesters in Beijing,’ she said when marking the 35th anniversary in June 2024.

‘Australia remains concerned about ongoing restrictions on freedom of association, expression and political participation in China.’

During her remarks, she called on Beijing to end what she described as the denial of basic freedoms.

‘We call on China to cease suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society and to release those detained for peacefully expressing their political views.’

A few months after Wong’s remarks, in November 2024, the Australian Child Labor account posted a video showing two figures, including Yang, dancing in the square and posing as though directing traffic. 

It was captioned: ‘Me when a tank is driving towards me.’

The Daily Mail Australia has contacted Albanese and Wells for comment. 

Among the hundreds of men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas at the anti-migrant protest in Dover, most kept their identities hidden. But one heavily built figure was harder to miss.

He is Daniel Thomas, 37, the founder of Patriot Platform, who has described his supporters as “working class men who are bricklayers, roofers and carpenters who build the house you live in, the roads you drive on”.

Thomas’s own background, however, appears far removed from the blue-collar image he says his movement represents.

He was educated at a private school in Hampshire, while his father, Russell, was a university-educated skiing enthusiast who later retired to Brittany.

Despite those respectable roots, Thomas is a convicted kidnapper who has served time in prison. He is now regarded by some as the likely successor to his long-time far-Right associate Tommy Robinson, for whom he once worked as a bodyguard.

Whereas Robinson’s now-defunct English Defence League was largely about boisterous street protests, Thomas insists that his movement will follow a ‘non-violent’ path, despite the intimidating tactics of those balaclavas and much talk of ‘boots on the ground’.

It should be noted that the evidence on the streets of Portsmouth on Sunday night at the second protest wasn’t in his favour, with police officers injured and vehicles damaged.

Father-of-four and roofing company director Thomas, from Portsmouth, has a military background, having served as a tank driver with the King’s Royal Hussars.

But his Army career was cut short, having been discharged on medical grounds before seeing any active service.

Judging from YouTube clips where he is seen rallying his ‘troops’ and calling (not always successfully) for iron-clad discipline, the man known on social media as ‘Danny Tommo’ clearly feels his time has come.

His mission now is to launch a mass movement of ‘men’ to make Britain safe from migrants.

But who is ‘Tommo’, and how did he get to a position where he could outfox the police at Britain’s major ports not once but twice in as many days?

He has said that his violent past brought him to a turning point and forced him to recast himself as a Christian activist. He was jailed for two years in 2016 after bursting into the home of Graham Page in Hayling Island, Hampshire, along with two accomplices.

The three men were armed with knives and shouted ‘you’re coming with us’ before punching the victim, pinning him against a wall and trying to force him from his home.

They had wrongly accused Mr Page of stealing £10,000 worth of drugs from them.

How Thomas ended up in such company isn’t clear, but it’s notable that only a year later his father posted a glowing tribute to Daniel’s younger brother Jack on his 16th birthday.

Russell Thomas wrote on Facebook: ’16 years Old Today… WOW where did the years go! And congrats on becoming trilingual, great job, well done!’

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Tragically, Russell Thomas took his own life in France in 2022, aged just 60. None of Daniel Thomas’s three siblings seem to have followed him down the path of balaclavas and boots.

Brother Jack is now an aviation professional for Swissport, working at Edinburgh Airport, while sister Victoria is a yoga teacher and osteopath based in Brighton. She runs CPD classes for other yoga trainers and has worked as an instructor on a superyacht.

His other sister Charlie is an entrepreneur and business consultant who offers advice to start-ups.

And last night, Daniel’s mother Alison Thomas, 63, who lives in a neat terraced house in Chichester, Wast Sussex, appeared to distance herself from her son’s recent activities.

The mother-of-four said: ‘He doesn’t live here. This is my house. I don’t want anyone coming round here. I have nothing to do with it.’

Asked if she supported his actions, she said: ‘I’m just a lady living by myself with my German Shepherd dog and I don’t want any aggravation.’

Daniel and his partner Jasmine appear to frequently holiday to Tenerife, staying in a luxury hotel last month.

His roofing company, named RMT Roofing Specialists Ltd, claims to be ‘rooted in faith’ and provide roof installations which reflect ‘our integrity and strong Christian values’.

After his release from prison, Thomas came up with his pseudonym Danny Tommo and organised marches throughout the country calling for Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, to be freed from a sentence for contempt of court.

Then in 2018 he was involved with organising a United Kingdom Independence Party ‘Brexit Betrayal’ rally at which Robinson spoke.

At the time, Thomas told the Telegraph that the attempted kidnapping was committed because he ‘got involved with some stupid people’, adding that ‘Everyone deserves a second chance. I came out of prison and turned my life around.’

Yesterday, Thomas dramatically crashed a press conference held by Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf, and made clear he wasn’t impressed with Nigel Farage’s verdict on his protests at Dover and Portsmouth as ‘disgusting’.

Thomas shouted to Mr Yusuf: ‘You have to understand, Yusuf, that what we’re trying to do and the reason the Patriot Platform has been created is not because of violence. We’re not looking to intimidate anyone.

‘Let me start by first explaining to you why the men are wearing masks. As you know, and as Nigel knows, the left in this country target us massively… The reason they’re covering their faces is because we know they’re going to be targeted.’

He added: ‘What Nigel Farage has done is not good. When you call people disgusting, yeah, you have to understand the reasons of why this is happening.’

He cast himself as kingmaker, vowing that his followers would eventually ‘convert into a voting bloc’. He added that if Mr Farage ‘slanders me, they’re going to push us into other parties. At the end of the day, I do like what… some (other) parties are doing.’

Thomas insists Patriot Platform was formed to defend Britain’s borders, not to promote extremism.

But after an extraordinary weekend of blocked roads, delayed holidaymakers, masked protesters and clashes with police, the authorities – and politicians – face a question that is becoming harder to ignore: Is ‘Danny Tommo’ merely another rabble rouser – or the figurehead of a new, and increasingly organised, form of anti-migrant street politics?