Having seen veterans and serving members of our Armed Forces pursued by repeated and vexatious claims, a new Bill offering better protection is not before time.

Unscrupulous lawyers, who trawled for potential clients across former battlefields, have ruined lives, careers and marriages. Since 2003, after five successive inquiries, and more than 4,000 allegations against those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, only a mere handful have progressed to prosecution. Lack of evidence has shut down the others.

Some claim this is an amnesty, or a statute of limitations, which could allow our troops to act with impunity.

I disagree. Take former Royal Marine Al Blackman, for example.

He was initially convicted of murdering a member of the Taliban, but an appeal hearing overturned the verdict after taking into account the “unique circumstances of overseas operations”. Murder was reduced to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. So Marine A – as he was known - did not escape justice, but the adverse effect that the tour in Afghanistan had on him was taken into account, and rightly so.

If we are to send our brave men and women into combat, and they uphold the highest standards in the heat of battle, we must ensure they are given essential, legal protections.

The Bill we debated this week is a major step forward. Only in exceptional cases will serving soldiers or veterans face prosecution for alleged offences committed outside the UK more than five years ago, and cases will not be allowed to roll on for years. Another Bill covering Northern Ireland is due before Christmas.

In both cases, we are fulfilling our duty to take care of those we put in harm’s way.