Armed Forces Bill

Lord Sheikh Excerpts

Wednesday 6th July 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sheikh]

My Lords, this is an important and timely debate, and I very much welcome the Bill. The issues with which it grapples are fundamental to our democracy and our beliefs. The contribution of our Armed Forces needs to be recognised and respected. We have a duty to repay their courage and commitment, including after their service, and we also have a duty to their families, who also pay a price on our behalf.

The Armed Forces are to be commended for their incredible humanitarian work around the communities in which they serve. In Afghanistan, they work tirelessly to support innocent people who also suffer the consequences of conflict. They endeavour to win the hearts and minds of people through dialogue, bridge-building and peacemaking initiatives, and they have now gained a good understanding of the Muslim and Afghan culture to enable them to do so.

We have previously spent a lot of time in your Lordships’ House stressing the importance of the military covenant. Sadly, however, many members of our Armed Forces do not believe that the Government’s commitment is as firm and reliable as it should be. Surveys have indicated that only a third of our Armed Forces’ personnel feel valued or are satisfied. That is not good enough, and I welcome the Government’s commitment, in Clause 2, to enshrine the military covenant in statute and to provide an annual report. Our duties to our Armed Forces and their families do not end with a piece of paper, but I know that Parliament will be robust in scrutinising that annual report, and it should act as a spur in the minds of Ministers now and in the future.

The military covenant is important; how we treat our Armed Forces—past, present and future—and their families reflects directly on us. The public have made their feelings very clear with overwhelming responses to successive charitable appeals and with the proud affection that marks the moving respect demonstrated frequently at Wootton Bassett. The public are entitled to ask what the Government are doing in response, and the report would go some way to providing an answer. We have a duty to speak up for our Armed Forces and to champion their cause. I am a proud supporter of our Armed Forces, and I take every opportunity to support them and their work.

Our Armed Forces have a long tradition of recruiting from a wide ethnic base, and that is something of which we should be proud. I should add that I chair the Conservative Muslim Forum, and in my meetings with ethnic minorities I encourage them to join the Armed Forces.

I take this opportunity to thank the Ministry of Defence for the formation of the Armed Forces Muslim Association on 9 October 2009. I have attended and spoken at meetings organised by the association, whose patron is General Sir David Richards. I am pleased to note that Muslims now hold senior positions in the Army, Navy and RAF. I have been assured that promotions in the Armed Forces will be based on merit, which I greatly appreciate. We now hold Friday prayers in the House of Lords. The Muslim Chaplain to Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, Imam Asim Hafiz, periodically leads the prayers, and that of course gives the right message to the congregation.

Many changes are taking place in defence at the moment. Yes, the operational environment is changing, but so are the policy context and the shape of our institutions. We have a bold Secretary of State, who is expressing a clear vision for change and standing up for his department. We saw the conclusion of the strategic defence and security review last autumn—the first since 1998—with a firm commitment that in future these reviews will be held every five years. We have a Government who are getting to grips with a truly horrific legacy of overspend. The financial management of the defence procurement budget has always been complicated and this was worsened by the financial crisis.

We are putting the needs of our service personnel on operations first, making sure that the equipment they need reaches them in a timely and efficient manner. Measures have been put in place over the past 12 months that provide a number of benefits, including doubling the operational allowance, introducing scholarships for the children of bereaved service families, setting up a new community covenant grant scheme with funding of £30 million over the next four years to support action by local communities to help our Armed Forces and veterans, and securing an increase in the rate of council tax relief from 25 to 50 per cent for military personnel serving on operations overseas. These are all good and positive developments and have been well received. This is not just another Armed Forces Bill. By writing the military covenant into law, it makes a clear commitment of the nation’s intent for now and for ever. What will be included in the annual report on the military covenant required by the Bill will be crucial to enabling this House and the wider public to hold Ministers to account. I am sure that this will be the subject of considerable debate during the detailed scrutiny that is to follow, but we need to remember that the report is not just the renewal of the military covenant; it will do more.

This Bill also contains measures that build on changes made in the Armed Forces Act 2006, including on discipline, the service police, alcohol and drugs, and entry, search and seizure procedures. These are not trivial matters and I look forward to the scrutiny that will follow. In particular, this Bill offers the prospect of bringing together the service disciplinary procedures more closely than was achieved with the 2006 Act. It should also do much more to align our activities with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights, for example through the provisions on service complaints.

It is important that the complaints of members of the Armed Forces can be heard in an impartial and independent way. Allowing the service police to administer tests before incidents will ensure that there is a credible and effective deterrent to alcohol and drug misuse, as in civil jurisdiction. Clause 13 will enable commanding officers to combine the punishment of service detention with a reduction in rank. The court martial will retain its powers. Under Clause 7 it is proposed that the powers of judge advocates to authorise entry and search are amended. We need to examine these in detail together with other clauses at later stages of the Bill.

I will now ask my noble friend the Minister specific questions. Can he tell the House what form the Secretary of State’s covenant report will take? Will it be an Oral Statement, with both Houses having the opportunity to debate it? How will the report be compiled? To what degree will the Armed Forces be asked to participate? Will there be any annual independent reporting on the state of the military covenant in addition to the report by the Secretary of State? How will this Bill affect the reserves and protect the bond of responsibility between these important units and the Government? I know that there is a separate review on the Reserve Forces, but we need to ensure adequate cross-over.

In conclusion, I know that the Minister has a long and deep interest in the affairs of our Armed Forces. I wish to pay tribute to him for keeping Members of your Lordships’ House well informed on developments in general, and for holding briefing meetings at the Ministry of Defence, which I attend whenever possible. This Armed Forces Bill is special. Its timing is important and the message it sends out is crucial. As a response to the affection in which our Armed Forces are held by the public, it is long overdue. I am pleased to commend the Bill to the House and I look forward to taking an active interest in its progress.