Defence secretary under fire for appearing to condone torture

Ben Wallace suggested soldiers might ‘pretend to pour petrol’ over prisoners on battlefield. Defence secretary Ben Wallace was accused of appearing to condone the use of mock executions after comments he once made that soldiers “might pretend to pour petrol” over prisoners taken on the battlefield resurfaced. The former Scots Guard captain and future cabinet minster had declared that “battlefield short sharp interrogation where the prisoner is manhandled fairly roug