open to threats

A proposal to secure a seven-year opt out for the UK from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court has been defeated in the House...A proposal to secure a seven-year opt out for the UK from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court has been defeated in the House of Lords.

The Conservatives amendment, defeated by a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition, would have given British servicemen and women protection from the threat of prosecution for alleged war crimes.

According to Lord Howell of Guildford, the Conservatives spokesman for foreign affairs in the Lords, the defeat of the amendment has left British servicemen open to the prospect of vexatious prosecution from rogue states.