Commenting on the news that the Ministry of Defence has agreed to pay almost £3m in damages to Iraqis who were tortured by UK troops in Basra in 2003, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said:

"We welcome this payout. It’s high time that the Government accepted responsibility for this.

"Serious questions need to be asked about what training troops were given before they were sent to Iraq and there must now be a swift and full independent inquiry to discover how this incident was allowed to happen in the first place.

"Torture and abuse of any kind is utterly inexcusable but we must remember that these cases represent only a tiny minority of our otherwise exemplary Armed Forces personnel.

"However, in the fight against terrorism it is important that we conduct ourselves differently from the terrorists, and do not lower ourselves to their level.

"Our presence in Iraq has UN backing, and our troops must act accordingly."