Is the future of the SAS at risk?
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What is the historical context of the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill and why does it matter?
From blockades to breakthroughs.
From rising tides of populism to market crashes.
From number ten to the White House.
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This episode of The General and the Journalist is brought to you by Team Orion. At a time where the world is increasingly uncertain, defense needs more than traditional logistics to face those challenges. It takes trusted data, rapid decision making, and operational resilience. That's where T Marion comes in. Strengthen defence readiness through integration. Combining the sovereign expertise of KBR, Unipart and IBM, Timuran delivers the decision making power and support systems to sustain forces when the stakes are high. Discover how Team Orion is helping shape the future of defense readiness. Follow them on LinkedIn at Team Orion Defense. More than 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, Britain has still not resolved what to do about legacy cases from Northern Ireland's troubles.
In fact, the impassioned Rao is just about to reignite afresh. In a few weeks, the government is expected to publish changes to the controversial Troubles Bill and try again to push it through Parliament. Ministers for they say it will help families get answers, but veterans insist they've been tortured long enough, and it's all part of an ever-worsening lawfare culture that's also crippling today's military. Few units feel this more strongly than the SAS. Two of the Special Forces Regiment's most prominent veterans join us today to take the rare move of speaking up publicly about it all. So who is right? And is the future of the SES itself at stake? I'm Tom, and welcome to The General and the Journalist.
Well, Patrick is away this week, but in his place I'm very pleased to say I'm joined by Jamie Lowther Pinkerton and George Sim. Neither of them admittedly generals, but they do have some four decades roughly of elite service in the special air service between them. George and Jamie, welcome. Thanks, Tom. So you're both from really different backgrounds. You've been pretty much lifelong friends ever since you served together uh in Hereford. You you met in the the the late nineteen eighties. You made your way up to the corridors of power through G Squadron together, both in the same squadron, through your sort of different ranks. Jamie, you ended up as the squadron's commander. Uh George, you ended up as the S is regimental sergeant major, a veritable
God down there and then you took an officer's commission and eventually left the army uh as a major Which
was a downgrade.
It's a bit of a downgrade being a being a Rupert, which I think is the expression that uh you use. But
it's about a fact really. You have more effect as an RSM. It it is really the prime rank in the British Army.
I bet you do. You tell the Ruperts what to do. But George, you grew up in a coal mining era of Northumbria. What was your path into the SS?
Well, after um being turned away from the grammar school because I wasn't really interested. Um I had a bit of a Checkered family life. And uh I was enamored with the military, I have to say. I decided on the Coldstream Guards, joined the 2nd Battalion, went to the junior leaders first at the age of fifteen, which was a seminal moment in my life. Completely changed me. It was a young academy for uh youngsters who were trained in the same syllabus as the officers at Sandhurst, so you were above our average intelligence kids, and you were trained as young commanders at the age of fifteen. It was an extraordinary process. And from there it was really 2nd Battalion for a short time, tours in Northern Ireland, then one of the big breaks was into the Guards Parachute Company, which were the Pathfinders for the Parachute Brigade of old.
And once that disbanded in nineteen seventy five, there was really no option.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the historical context of the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill and why does it matter?
0:01–5:36
2
How did Jamie Lowther‑Pinkerton and George Simm first join the SAS and rise through the ranks?
5:36–11:16
3
Why do the veterans argue that the new Troubles Bill could reopen investigations and erode trust?
11:16–23:43
4
What was the Logall ambush of 1987 and how has it been used in the law‑fare debate?
23:43–33:48
5
How are repeated investigations affecting SAS recruitment, retention and morale?
33:48–41:32
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