Military Covenant

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Wednesday 16th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Murphy]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his keen sense of anticipation for my interesting speech. I have already said that, on reflection, we should have gone further towards taking the covenant out of the cut and thrust of party politics—[Hon. Members: “Ah!”] I hope that all those on the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Benches who are now chiding us for not having done that will have the courage of their convictions and take this opportunity to vote for their manifesto commitment later this evening.

Many Members, of all parties, and most people in the country will be hoping that the Secretary of State will use today’s debate as an opportunity to reconsider the Government’s policy. This debate is important because the covenant is the unspoken contract between the nation and our services that guides us to serve with the utmost respect those who serve our country with incomparable courage. As our country continues to change, those values should remain constant. There is a tangible feeling up and down the country that that moral bond between the nation and the forces should be strengthened.

I want to make it clear from the outset that any criticism that I offer today is not mine alone. The Army Families Federation received 2,000 complaints about the Government’s cuts from its members by e-mail in five days, many of which expressed real concern. The director general of the Royal British Legion, Chris Simpkins, has said of the Government’s defence of their Armed Forces Bill:

“The Legion is concerned that this looks like the beginnings of a Government U-turn.”

In truth, if the Government fail to back today’s motion, that U-turn will be complete. Vice-Admiral Sir Michael Moore, the chairman of the Forces Pension Society, has described the Government’s plan for the covenant as “incredibly wet and feeble”, stating:

“It is flute music and arm waving. There is nothing of any substance, with just a couple of no-cost ideas”.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Murphy]

Bearing your stricture in mind again, Mr Deputy Speaker, of course I will.

[Andrew Bridgen]

Does the right hon. Gentleman not accept that for almost three years the last Labour Government were in complete denial about the adequacy of Snatch Land Rovers to protect our troops in Helmand? Does that not constitute a breach of the military covenant?

[Mr Murphy]

We massively increased the number of armoured vehicles going to Afghanistan, and that was the right thing to do.

The former commander of the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan, Colonel Stuart Tootal, said at the weekend:

“There is a real fragility of morale in the Armed Forces at the moment.”

It is regrettable that a Government so young should find themselves in a position so undesirable. That is of concern to Members in all parts of the House. These are real issues, which demand a more serious response than Ministers have given in the past few days and weeks.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

My dad landed in France and ran up the beach on D-day. If he was alive today, he would tell us that it was the fastest that he ran in his entire life. He would freely admit that, as he crouched in the landing craft heading for shore, with bullets pinging off the infrastructure, he was petrified of the doors opening. When they finally opened, his stomach turned over, and he went up that beach in full kit faster than Linford Christie. He made it unscathed to the top, but the next day he had most of his stomach blown out by a German shell in a field just beyond the beach. He suffered for it every day of his life for the next 48 years. In return, he received a small pension from the Government and spent the rest of his life worrying about losing it. He was grateful for the money. He spent most of it on beer, if the truth were known, but he enjoyed every pint. Was he worth it? Damn right he was, every penny, because without him and his mates, there would be a foreign flag flying over this Parliament— assuming, that is, that this building existed at all. We owe him, along with thousands of his comrades, a debt of honour. We must never forget that.

The very same applies to our present-day forces. They may be small in number, but when they put their lives on the line we have a duty to look after them, and their families.

[Andrew Bridgen]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the military power of our great country has been, is and always will be a projection of our economic power, which has been devastated by the mismanagement of the last Government?

[Mr Crausby]

I will get to that point.

We do not expect our forces to join a trade union or allow them to go on strike, so they are entitled to be treated differently. My dad lay in that French field for two days before he was found, but he was eventually flown back to the UK and put back together. When he recovered, he voted Labour, and he never missed the opportunity to vote Labour in every election until the day he died. I make that point simply because this is not a party political issue. Many of his comrades returned to vote Conservative, and Liberal, and other weird things, as was their entitlement, and some did not bother to vote at all. So it is shameful to turn the matter of the covenant into a point-scoring party political issue, as the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) did.

We all know that we are in difficult circumstances, but I do not know what my dad would say about cutting soldiers’ allowances at the same time as Barclays pay their investment bankers 20% more—not to mention making Afghan veterans redundant by e-mail, which is even worse than when John Major made Bosnian front-line veterans redundant by post. I suppose that the MOD has at least come up to date.