Business of the House

Bob Stewart Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Gentleman would not expect me to be familiar with the particular matter he raises, but before any consideration of a debate it would be best for him to write with the details to the Secretaries of State for Health and for Communities and Local Government. I will certainly alert them to what he has said today, but he will need to give them the details of what he is alleging for them to be able to look into it.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

On Tuesday 27 January, Ian Thomson, a committee specialist on the House of Commons Defence Committee, was severely hurt while accompanying my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell) and me on a visit to the Falkland Islands. He broke his elbow very badly—it was incredibly painful—when he fell out of a Land Rover in the rain on the airstrip. He immediately went through the casualty evacuation procedure. A Sea King flew him to Stanley hospital, which said the injury was too bad for them to deal with—there are only 3,000 people on the island—and that he required an orthopaedic surgeon. The RAF flew him back to Mount Pleasant airfield from where he was immediately flown—first in a 1564 flight Sea King helicopter and then in the back of a 1312 flight C-130 Hercules aircraft—across the south Atlantic to a hospital in Montevideo in Uruguay. Throughout, he was accompanied by squadron leader Jen Russell, the unit medical officer. May I ask my right hon. Friend to join me in thanking our service personnel in the south Atlantic for the way they have dealt with one of our own? They would have used exactly the same procedure for one of their own.

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend well demonstrates the professionalism and dedication of all our armed forces, consulate and embassy staff. We should express our thanks to the British embassy in Montevideo for visiting Ian Thomson daily and looking after him so well. We are very grateful for such professionalism so far away. I understand that he is on the mend after three operations, but is likely to have to remain in the Montevideo hospital for the next seven to 10 days. It is a reminder of the hard work of our Clerks and the professionalism of our armed forces.