August 1, 2015
George Robertson, the Defence Secretary, yesterday announced an immediate and total ban on the use of anti-personnel landmines by British forces as the Government ratified an international convention outlawing the indiscriminate weapon estimated to kill or maim 2,000 people a month.
The government decided earlier this month to bow to intense public pressure and rush through a Landmines Act in time for the first anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, Princess of Wales, who championed the campaign against the weapon.
Until yesterday, a loophole allowed ministers to deploy mines in ‘exceptional circumstances’.