Boris Johnson says no British military personnel are ‘above the law’ amid calls for inquiry into BBC claims that SAS troops killed detainees in Afghanistan

The Prime Minister declined to comment on the special forces, although said that did not mean he “in any way accepts the factual accuracy of the claims” raised in the Commons.

A BBC investigation said British special forces soldiers allegedly killed detainees and unarmed men in suspicious circumstances during counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan.

The Panorama investigation reportedly uncovered 54 suspicious killings carried out by one British SAS unit on a six-month tour of Afghanistan in 2010-11.

SNP defence spokesman Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South) said: “Last night’s Panorama with the joint investigation with the Times newspaper has exposed yet again more evidence of unlawful killings by special forces, this time in Afghanistan.

“When this came up before, the Government and particularly MoD (Ministry of Defence) was determined to sweep this under the carpet. But those who serve in uniform and the public they protect deserve better than this.”

He added: “So, will the Prime Minister commit to an Australia-style independent inquiry as backed by General Lord Richards, but more broadly, hasn’t the case been made again for democratic oversight of special forces?”

Mr Johnson replied: “It’s a long-standing practice, I think accepted on both sides of this House, that we do not comment on Special Forces, and that does not mean that we in any way accept the factual accuracy of the claims to which he has eluded.

“On the other hand, nor does it mean that anybody who serves in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces is above the law.”

The BBC investigation also claimed that senior officers, including former head of the British Army General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, did not report the alleged murders and did not disclose the evidence held by UK Special Forces to the military police.

Sir Mark declined to comment, the BBC said.

The Ministry of Defence said it believed the Panorama programme “jumps to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have already been fully investigated”.

Conservative MP Sir Bill Wiggin, the MP for North Herefordshire, later raised a point of order to criticise the reporting on the SAS – describing it as an “attack”.

He said: “These people are the bravest, most wonderful constituents I could ever hope to represent.”