Armed Forces

Bob Russell Excerpts

Tuesday 25th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Murphy]

There will be opportunities throughout the debate for right hon. and hon. Members to make their own assessments of the strength of the Government’s defence policy, but my intention today, as I said at the beginning of my remarks, is to make constructive suggestions about how together we can do more to honour our armed forces and support their families.

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

In a comradely spirit, does the right hon. Gentleman think that military bands have a role to play in the future of our armed forces?

[Mr Murphy]

I have visited the hon. Gentleman’s constituency a number of times and know how passionately he argues that case. Of course military bands play an important role, as we saw at trooping the colour a couple of weeks ago on Her Majesty’s official birthday. I think that the remarkable sights and sounds of military bands are celebrated by the entre nation.

[Sir Bob Russell]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Murphy]

I will give way, as long as the hon. Gentleman understands that this will be his second and final intervention.

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr Mark Francois)]

Good luck!

[Sir Bob Russell]

The reason I intervened is that under the Labour Government the number of Army bands was reduced by almost a quarter.

[Mr Murphy]

I knew that I would enjoy the hon. Gentleman’s second intervention. Someone shouted from a sedentary position “Good luck” in relation to his not seeking to intervene again. All I will say is that I will not give way to him later in my speech. I am pretty proud of the changes and reforms introduced by the Labour Government with regard to our armed forces. Members today will offer their observations and criticisms, but on balance I am pretty proud of our record.

Our armed forces stationed overseas are rightly at the front of all our minds, including those stationed in Afghanistan. They operate in the dust and danger of a far-away terrain to protect security on our streets at home. Of course, after the pain of the past few years, many people understandably ask why it is in our interests to engage in such causes and to confront unrest in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The answer, in my opinion, is pretty straightforward: we do so because we do not want it to visit our shores.

We have recently seen UK personnel operating in Libya and Mali, alongside the ongoing operations in Afghanistan, in a sign of the unpredictability of today’s security landscape. Today the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way do so in a rapidly evolving defence environment that will demand new skills, technologies and strategies alongside their timeless courage and ingenuity.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr Mark Francois)]

I welcome the opportunity to speak for the Government in this important debate. Although this is technically an Opposition day, there is evidently a good deal of consensus in the House on this issue, and without wishing to tempt fate, I suspect that the mood will be slightly different from the last time the right hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Mr Murphy) and I crossed swords—over the Lisbon treaty—on behalf of our respective parties.

The members of our armed forces, past and present, regulars and reserves, have made an incredible contribution to this country, some having made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. We owe our armed forces an enormous debt, and it is right that we continually strive to recognise, repay and honour this debt. The sheer breadth and pace of operations over the last decade have raised awareness of the bravery and dedication of our service personnel, and public support for our armed forces is arguably at an all-time high—something that I am sure the whole House will welcome and endorse. Excellent work has been done by all sections of society—by the public sector, the private sector and charities—to help harness this support. Earlier this month, for instance, we paid tribute to those veterans who stormed the Normandy beaches to help free Europe from Nazi tyranny. I was privileged to lay several wreaths on behalf of the Government. This was personally poignant for me as my father, Reginald Francois, served aboard a minesweeper on D-day 69 years ago.

Armed Forces day this Saturday is just one of the many ways the public show their support for our service personnel. It is an important occasion, because it allows us to come together on a single day to show our appreciation for what they do for us every day. Since its inception as veterans day in 2006—it became armed forces day in 2009—it has allowed millions of people to celebrate the achievements and remember the sacrifices of our soldiers, sailors and airmen and women. The event has gained real momentum in the past few years, thanks to the backing of the royal family, charities, businesses, the armed forces themselves, and thousands of volunteers up and down the country. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who give their time and effort to make Armed Forces day the success that it has now become. This year, there will be more than 300 events taking place all over the country—including, I am proud to say, in Rayleigh—ranging in scale from the small to the large, and the formal to the informal.

[Sir Bob Russell]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Francois]

Yes; it is no surprise that the hon. Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell) wishes to intervene on me.

[Sir Bob Russell]

Speaking as one Essex MP to another, I am sure that the Minister would like to inform the House that among the celebrations in his constituency there will be a performance by the Colchester military wives choir.

[Mr Francois]

Having seen the programme, I am happy to confirm that that is the case. I heard the Colchester military wives choir perform in Portcullis House some months ago, and if it gives as good a performance on Saturday as it did then, all my constituents who attend the event will be very impressed.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

I congratulate Her Majesty’s Opposition on the spirit of the motion and both the right hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Mr Murphy) and the Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), on their speeches. In endorsing everything said from both Front Benches, I wish to put on the record my appreciation of 16 Air Assault Brigade, which is based at the Colchester garrison. I wish to praise all the armed forces charities, including Combat Stress, Veterans Aid, the Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes, ABF The Soldiers Charity, formerly the Army Benevolent Fund, SSAFA and a host of others, including regimental charities.

The Minister referred to the military wives choirs, of which there are now about 80, which I think is an incredible achievement in a relatively short period. I pay tribute to all those choirs. I am particularly proud of the Colchester military wives choir, because earlier this month it had the great honour of representing this country and the military wives choir movement at the Canadian international military tattoo in Hamilton, Ontario. I know that they were warmly welcomed because I was there cheering them on.

I referred earlier to military bands, which I believe are an important part of the fabric of this country that bring together the armed forces and the general public. In 1997 there were 29 Army bands, but today there are 22. Only last week, in answer to a written question, the Minister said:

“The number of army bands is currently under review as part of the Future Music 2020 re-organisation programme, although no decision has yet been made.”—[Official Report, 19 June 2013; Vol. 564, c. 720W.]

I sincerely trust that there will be no further cuts.

[Bob Stewart]

Military bands actually have another role in battle. I used my military band to calm down a situation. In particular, I remember a piper playing on the roof of my building, which stopped the battle completely. People were perhaps wondering what the noise was, but it worked amazingly well. Military bands are very important in war.

[Sir Bob Russell]

I thank my hon. and gallant Friend for that helpful contribution.

Earlier this month the Treasury put out some ignorant comments about the number of Army horses and tanks. Following that to its logical conclusion, I assume that next year’s trooping the colour will take place on bikes.

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr Andrew Robathan)]

The hon. Gentleman said that those comments came from the Treasury, but I gently point out to him that the person who actually made them is a member of his part of the coalition.

[Sir Bob Russell]

The Minister is absolutely right, but of course the briefing was given by Treasury officials. I do not think that the Defence Minister is saying that he is never briefed by his officials. If that is the case, it is a very worrying situation.

With regard to the armed forces covenant, the Defence Committee, of which I am a member, recently conducted an inquiry into education for the children of service personnel. There is a conflict between the armed forces covenant and the Education Act, both of which are laws of this country, and that conflict needs to be addressed. Other conflicts are emerging already between the armed forces covenant and the definition of social housing for single former military personnel. I think that there has to be a ruling on that, because some local authorities are interpreting it differently from what the armed forces covenant means. I am concerned that the community covenant might, in some cases, be paying lip service, rather than being a reality. We need to look at that.

We also need to look again at serving Commonwealth soldiers being obliged to leave compulsorily on health grounds and then not being treated by the armed forces covenant. Again, the covenant is not being fair in the way the financial packages for voluntary redundancies are being looked at. I have a constituent who accepted the terms of redundancy based on his years of service, only to have the financial package withdrawn after he agreed to leave. I think that case might end up in the courts, so I will leave it there.

The armed forces covenant has a long way to go with regard to the condition of Army family housing. The Government have been able to find money to upgrade former military housing for use by civilian families, which I support, but they claim that they do not have the money to upgrade Army housing. I recognise that every pound of public money spent on those houses boosts their value for Annington Homes—in a shameful act, the last Conservative Government privatised the houses and in 13 years the last Labour Government failed to deal with the issue, although I raised it on many occasions.

Will the Ministry of Defence look at how the pay and dine operation works in practice? A car will run only if it has petrol in the tank; our soldiers can operate at full capacity only if they eat the right amount of food at the right times and in the right quantities.

Having praised those in uniform, I want also to praise the civilian work force, without whom our armed forces could not operate. I include the Defence Support Group, the MOD police who under successive Governments have taken a massive cut; in my constituency, 33 MOD police officers have been reduced to zero. I should also mention other guard services, the MOD fire service and all the support staff—not forgetting Garrison FM, which operates in the principal garrison towns of this country. I wish to broaden the wider military family and include the cadet forces.

The reduction in the size of the Army is not good news. I repeat what I said to the Prime Minister:

“On the Prime Minister’s watch, the Army will reduce to its smallest size since 1750 and will be half the size it was at the time of the Falklands war. Does he accept that history is not kind to Prime Ministers who are perceived to have left our country without a strong defence capability?”—[Official Report, 11 July 2012; Vol. 548, c. 309.]

I do not think that trying to plug the gaps of a smaller regular force with reservists is the way forward. I support reservists, of course I do—we have fantastic Territorial Army people in my constituency. However, cutting the Regular Army and trying to plug the gap with Army reservists is not the solution. The move is being driven by the Treasury. Those at Treasury questions today will know the response to my question about how many civilian employees at HM Treasury had volunteered to join the Army reservists since requests for civilians were made in January this year: zero.

Armed Forces day in my constituency was launched yesterday in the town hall, with the mayor and garrison commander in attendance. The town and garrison have excellent joint facilities, including the athletics track and the Phoenix club house, which I opened earlier this month.

I end by praising the last Government for providing the new Merville barracks, the best in the country, and welcoming the current Government’s proposals for the first world war commemorations, which will commence in August next year.