General Matters

Bob Stewart Excerpts

Tuesday 17th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

There is a strong and growing sense of anger in Salford and across Greater Manchester about the Government’s decision to axe the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. A strong campaign in the Manchester Evening News is asking the Government to rethink their plans.

The 2nd Battalion has a long and distinguished service history dating back to the Lancashire Fusiliers. Nineteen heroes from the Lancashire Fusiliers, which became the 2nd Battalion, were awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery. The battalion has served this country in every major conflict since 1674. Many of its soldiers gave their lives fighting for this country.

In 2009, the 2nd Battalion of Fusiliers completed a tour of Afghanistan in which it lost seven men killed in action. Others were wounded, some very seriously. Three of the seven died together in an explosion while on patrol near Sangin in Helmand province on 16 August 2009, including Fusilier Simon Annis from Salford. Simon and fellow Fusilier Louis Carter were trying to drag their injured comrade, Lance Corporal James Fullarton, to safety after a roadside bomb blast, but as the pair lifted Lance Corporal Fullarton on to a stretcher, they triggered a second device, causing an explosion that killed all three soldiers, who died at the scene. Simon was on his first operational tour. He was described by a senior Army officer as a “shining example” to the nation. Simon Annis had been married for just a month before he deployed to Afghanistan.

When the 2nd Battalion had its homecoming parade from Afghanistan later in 2009, Salford people lined the streets to give the returning soldiers a warm welcome. I was proud to be at the parade and to meet my constituents, Ann and Peter Annis, the parents of Fusilier Simon Annis. The pride his parents feel is replaced by anger at the Government’s decision to axe the battalion their son served so valiantly. Simon’s mother Ann has said:

“Simon was so proud to serve in the battalion and now this feels like a smack in the face. He died with his mates in that battalion and now it will be gone…Lads are still in Afghanistan and dying out in Afghanistan and the Army are talking about cuts and job losses. Morale must be at rock bottom.”

[Bob Stewart]

(Beckenham) (Con): My uncle served in the Lancashire Fusiliers and I am very proud of that fact. Does the hon. Lady agree that it would be a good idea if the Government could rethink their policy on cuts to infantry battalions—the three in England, one in Wales and one in Scotland—at least until we are out of Afghanistan?

[Barbara Keeley]

I very much agree with hon. Gentleman. I am today asking for such a rethink.

The decision to axe the battalion feels like a betrayal to the memory of Simon Annis and the other soldiers who have given their lives. I agree with Mrs Annis that the decision is bad for morale—it must be. There is a deep attachment in Salford and across Greater Manchester to this battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers, which has such a long and proud history of service to this country, as I have mentioned. The 2nd Battalion is linked to Salford and other places in Greater Manchester. At this difficult time for employment, its loss will significantly reduce the opportunities for local people who want to enter a career serving their country. Furthermore, the decision will put 600 soldiers and officers at risk of being made redundant.

Brigadier David Paterson, the honorary colonel of the 2nd Battalion, wrote in a letter to General Sir Peter Wall that the decision would not best serve the armed forces. In the letter, he tells of his bitter disappointment at the decision to cut the battalion, which he describes as

“the strongest in raw manning and deployable strength”,

and he writes of the difficulty he will have in telling his fusiliers, in an almost fully staffed battalion, why they are now likely to be posted to battalions that cannot recruit as well as the 2nd battalion, which has 523 trained soldiers out of a maximum strength of 532. He has questioned the criteria being used to single out the unit, which actually has a strong record in recruiting new soldiers and is the only regiment set to grow over the next six months.

The Secretary of State said yesterday that the recruiting ability of regiments over a period of 10 years had been taken into account when deciding these cuts, but it seems wrong, given the different employment situation today and the battalion’s strong record in recruiting, to take what must have been a few leaner years of recruitment as the reason for axing this historic battalion. I urge Ministers to reconsider the decision and instead respect the proud history and valour of the 2nd Battalion, of which I and the people of Salford are so proud.

--- Later in debate ---

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow my near namesake, the hon. Member for City of Durham (Roberta Blackman-Woods). I want to talk about three issues: the general position of policing and criminal activity in London; the excellent work being done by Harrow police; and the scandalous proposal to close the custody suite in Harrow.

On the general position in London, some 300,000 people were arrested last year for alleged crimes, of whom 100,000 were foreign nationals. Of the 100,000 foreign nationals arrested, 86,000 were convicted of a criminal offence. I am one of those who welcomes tourists who come to this country on holiday, spend their money here and enjoy our wonderful heritage. I also welcome those who come here as students and who learn about this country and go back to their own countries enriched by their experience of the United Kingdom. I welcome those who come here to work and pay their taxes, and the families that choose to live here and integrate into society, becoming part of our great British society overall. However, those who come as guests and then commit criminal offences, and who are responsible for a third of London’s crime, are a danger to everyone else who comes here to make this country their home.

That is a key concern. The worst aspect is that, as I understand it, of those 86,000 people convicted of criminal offences, none were deported. Worse still, none were barred from returning to the UK if they chose to leave of their own volition. That, of course, creates community tensions and concerns for all the law-abiding people who have come here either to live here or on a visit. This requires prompt and immediate Government action.

Let me turn to the issues in Harrow. I recently had the pleasure and honour to attend a commendation service for 22 policemen and women who were commended by the borough commander for courage and for work above and beyond the call of duty. These brave individuals do an excellent job in ensuring that Harrow is London’s second safest borough. They cannot be praised highly enough. I believe it is right and proper to pay tribute to all those brave men and women who lay their lives on the line almost daily so that we can go about our business in a carefree manner, as we would all wish.

Finally, the third issue I want to deal with is the scandalous proposal to close the custody suite in Harrow police station. Everyone knows that when people are arrested, they are often violent, they are sometimes intoxicated and they can give the police a very hard time. Such people need to be transported to a custody suite, and processed and looked after in the prison cells, if required, in the most expeditious manner possible. The last thing that is needed is to transport people arrested in Harrow to Wembley or even to Kilburn when they may be violent, intoxicated on drink or drugs and causing many problems for police officers.

Another key concern is that if this proposal were to go ahead, police officers would be dragged away from Harrow to go to Wembley, Kilburn or beyond to process these individuals, and criminal investigation department officers would have to attend at one of those police stations to interview them and make sure that they were safe and secure overnight, if necessary. That, to me, is dragging away police officers who should be patrolling Harrow streets and unnecessarily tying them up in work that they should not need to do. Equally, there is a concern that people who have been arrested and put in police cells need to be inspected by police inspectors on a regular basis to make sure that they are safe and secure, and thus in a position to be interviewed. What is being proposed suggests that there will be an attempt to move the CID officers from Harrow to Wembley or Kilburn in order to facilitate all this investigation work and the necessary work of policing.

I therefore ask responsible Ministers to step in and make sure that this proposal bites the dust very quickly so that we do not see a drag-down of police officers and a drag on police time and resources in Harrow, and so that we do not cease to be London’s second safest borough.

[Bob Stewart]

Briefly, was this a police decision or a decision by someone else?

[Bob Blackman]

It is currently a proposal across London to close certain custody suites. I am obviously concentrating on my own constituency, but my hon. Friend should be clear that a similar proposal might well come forward for his own constituency, which will impact on his own borough of Bromley. We have to be careful about this across London.

I am particularly concerned because I know that when people are arrested in Harrow, at certain times of day it can take almost an hour to get to Wembley or Kilburn police station. Members can imagine a scenario involving violent criminals kicking off in the back of a police van that is dragging policemen or policewomen to another station where they will be tied up for several hours. Resources in Harrow will be severely stretched, and I suspect that there will be proposals for other custody suites to be closed throughout London, which I think would be wrong. We need to make it clear that custody suites should be in the most locally appropriate area, so that criminals can be processed in a humane and orderly fashion rather than transported for huge distances, tying up police resources unnecessarily.

I am sure that a Minister will respond to me in writing, but I hope that the Deputy Leader of the House will take the issue on board as well, so that we can be given an answer. I know that all three Harrow Members are very concerned about this, as are the Harrow public.