Thousands of soldiers 'to suffer mental illness'

TENS of thousands of British soldiers are likely to suffer from mental illness as a result of serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, a senior Tory politician has warned.

Former shadow defence secretary Bernard Jenkin said as many as 60,000 could be affected.

In a Commons debate on defence last night, he warned: "We can expect some 8,000 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder."

Meanwhile, the government has challenged a landmark ruling that British soldiers serving abroad are protected by human rights laws. A Supreme Court panel is being asked to overturn judgments over the death of Private Jason Smith in Iraq while serving with the Territorial Army.

James Eadie QC, representing the Ministry of Defence, said it would never be possible to guarantee rights under the European Convention to soldiers on duty wherever they were in the world.