A former British soldier who is reportedly fighting Islamic State in Iraq has said the UK Government’s response to the militants is “shameful”.
Alan Duncan, from Scotland, said the people of the Middle East feel “abandoned” by the West.
Mr Duncan spoke to BBC Radio 5 from Duhok in Northern Iraq, where the BBC said he is training an Assyrian Christian group alongside the Kurdish Peshmerga.
In an interview with the BBC’s Stephen Nolan, he defended his actions. He said he was there for “humanity and the Kurdish people” and that he was helping fight “the most disgusting people since the Nazis”.
Mr Duncan told the BBC: “I wear the Union Jack on my uniform. The others wear their flags and what have you.
“It actually lifts the spirit of the people. They kind of feel that, just seeing us foreigners here, it lifts their spirits. They feel that they have been abandoned by the West.
“The British Government disgusts me. I’m a massive Tory, yet my Government is shameful. It’s their lack of action in this country. Their lack of action to help Kurdish people.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK has consistently advised against all travel to Syria and parts of Iraq. Anyone who travels to these areas is putting themselves in considerable danger.”