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Keir Starmer criticises Johnny Mercer for attacking candidate’s record

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Image description, Mr Mercer made the allegations at an election rally in Plymouth on Wednesday

  • Author, Daniel Wareing
  • Role, BBC News, Devon

Sir Keir Starmer has criticised a political candidate who accused his rival of lying about his military service.

The Labour leader said Conservative Johnny Mercer was “sad and distressed” after he claimed that Fred Thomas, a former Royal Marine standing for Labour in the Plymouth Moor View constituency, had never taken part in “combat operations”, the Guardian reported in 2023.

Mr Mercer, a former Army officer and veterans minister, said Mr Thomas “should be held accountable” after accusing him of “bragging” about his military service.

Mr Thomas said he remained “unable to discuss major aspects of my ministry”.

Image source, Fred Thomas

Image description, Labour candidate Fred Thomas said he “couldn’t say much about my service”

Speaking to reporters in London, Sir Keir said Mr Thomas was a veteran “with a proud record of service”.

He said the comments showed that the Conservatives were “thoroughly putting party first and country second”, but that this was the “wrong way”.

“I think it is sad desperation that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs would attack another veteran who should be proud of his service,” he said.

In his response, Mercer said, “I plead guilty as charged because I am a sad, old-fashioned person who believes that veterans who brag about their wartime accomplishments in newspapers to get elected should be held accountable, especially when it turns out not to be true.”

“It is deeply offensive and disrespectful to those who actually shed blood for the nation.”

Mr Thomas said he had proudly served his country for seven years, “including overseas deployments”.

“I still can’t say much about my service, and Johnny Mercer, as a former Secretary of Defense, is well aware of that,” he said.

“I look forward to using every day until July 4 to deliver the message of Keir Starmer’s transformed Labour Party to the voters of Plymouth Moor View.”

Mr Mercer first made the allegations at an election rally in Plymouth on Wednesday.

He said he did not dispute Mr Thomas’s service in the Royal Marines, nor that he “actually served a deployment where he was in challenging environments – on the contrary, I respect his service”.

However, he said that deployment in combat has “a special meaning and brings with it a special responsibility”.

The Labour Party told the BBC on Friday that Mr Thomas had been misrepresented in the Guardian article.

Mr. Thomas cited his departure certificate, which was signed by an unnamed commanding officer of the Special Forces Support Group.

The other candidates in Plymouth Moor View are Shaun Hooper for Reform UK, Sarah Martin for the Liberal Democrats and Georgia Nelson for the Greens.

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