Armed Forces Bill

Lord Touhig Excerpts

Thursday 11th February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Touhig (Lab)]

My Lords, the House will perhaps understand if I say I have a feeling I have been here before—a sense of déjà vu. I was on the government side as Defence Minister and in 2005 took the Armed Forces Bill through the other place. However, I never saw it through to becoming an Act. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, phoned me and said he had to make room for younger members of his Government—and, in an instant, I was no longer a Minister. My successor, friend and colleague, and now deputy leader of my party, Tom Watson, took the Bill through to complete its passage in the other place. I have no complaints about losing office, having served for most of the time that my party was in government—although it did take some getting used to, to be told at 57 that I was too old to be the Veterans Minister.

That 2006 Act was the biggest piece of Armed Forces legislation for many years. It not only completed major reforms to the Armed Forces system of justice but was amended to include a pardon for the 308 shot-at-dawns—our own men whom we executed in the First World War.

I think that all would agree we have had an excellent debate today, and I look forward to Committee when we will examine the Bill in much more detail. We have certainly had three excellent maiden speeches. Perhaps the House will indulge me if I pay tribute to the speech made by my noble friend Lord Murphy of Torfaen. We are each other’s oldest friends; I think that in our first photograph together we are aged three, playing in the sand-pit at Brynteg nursery in Abersychan. His maiden speech was first class, and I expected nothing else.

His work as Northern Ireland Secretary and as Minister of State before then saw him make a major contribution to the peace process. He is highly regarded and respected on all sides and, although he has only just made his maiden speech today, almost on the day he came into the House the Home Secretary asked him if he would chair the Joint Committee on the draft Investigatory Powers Bill which has reported today. I am not alone in looking forward to his further contributions.

The House has also been fortunate to hear maiden speeches from the noble Baroness, Lady Pidding, and the noble Lord, Lord Shinkwin. The noble Baroness, Lady Pidding, served on Chiltern District Council. I, too, served in local government. I do not know whether she shares my experience that when I ceased to be a councillor and became an MP I found that I had swapped power for mere influence. In her excellent speech she spoke about volunteers. All parties require volunteers and we know how much we rely on them. It reminded me of an occasion when someone came to me having just joined the Griffithstown and Sebastopol branch of the Labour Party, of which I was secretary. He had attended his third meeting, seemed rather fed up, and said, “I joined the Labour Party to change the world, not the minutes of the last meeting”.

I have had the pleasure and honour of knowing the noble Lord, Lord Shinkwin, for a number of years and know well of his hard work with the Royal British Legion. His brother John worked with me for a year and did tremendous work. The noble Lord’s speech was thoughtful, powerful and moving and was underpinned by his deep and real faith. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is a wonderful day on which to make a maiden speech in your Lordships’ House.

I thank the Minister for all his work and for the helpful briefings he has provided throughout as we have prepared for this Second Reading. I look forward to working with him on the Bill.

My party in government has a proud record on defence. At the end of the Second World War it was a Labour Government who committed us to an independent nuclear deterrent and who helped create NATO. I hope that that message is not lost on some members of my party today who might need some re-education. Between 1997 and 2010 it was a Labour Government who ended the ban on LGBT men and women serving in the Armed Forces and passed the Armed Forces Act 2006, which I have already mentioned. We invested in equipment to support our troops serving both at home and abroad, increased defence spending by 10% in real terms and invested in world-class health facilities for the Armed Forces such as the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, which I have visited.

It is important to note that throughout this Bill’s passage in the other place it received cross-party support, with colleagues from across the political spectrum recognising the constitutional importance of this legislation but also providing a level of scrutiny that will give our Armed Forces the best possible deal in the coming years. It is rare that a piece of legislation receives such strong cross-party support, which again underpins its importance. The way in which the Bill was changed in the Commons is a testament to the impact of cross-party working together. That, for me, is Parliament working at its best.

The Government made an amendment to the Bill to remove outdated legislation that saw homosexual acts constitute grounds for discharging a member from the Armed Forces, following an amendment tabled by my party and supported by other parties. On Report the Government agreed to a compensation package for veterans suffering from mesothelioma following the debate on a Labour amendment. We have had some important contributions today from the noble Lord, Lord Empey, the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Boyce, and the noble Lord, Lord West of Spithead, who have shown us that there is still a gap we need to fill in that respect. Now that the Bill has come here, we will continue to work with colleagues across the House to secure the best settlement for our Armed Forces.

As my honourable friend Maria Eagle, who was our shadow Defence Secretary at Second Reading, said in the other place, Labour welcomes the intention of this Bill. Its ambition to simplify the system when people are charged with offences is certainly a step in the right direction. When I served as a Member of Parliament, I often came across cases from constituents who found the bureaucratic challenges thrown up by the civil justice system a barrier to gaining the justice they were seeking. We certainly do not want that in the Armed Forces.

Having said this, we will continue to press the issue of how rape and sexual assault are reported and dealt with in the Armed Forces. I am sure that we on these Benches are not alone in believing that it is a serious issue that warrants further attention and scrutiny, not least to enshrine equality into our Armed Forces.

The Government announced before Christmas their intention to allow women to serve in all front-line roles. Clearly that will be contentious, as the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, said in his contribution. It demonstrates a wider commitment to equality in the Armed Forces but it must come with a greater responsibility to deal with issues such as rape and sexual assault. On this side, we want men and women to see joining Britain’s Armed Forces as an opportunity to get a career, a skill, a life-changing experience and yes, for some, a career for life. This is why we feel strongly about the need to face up to the issues surrounding sexual misbehaviour—a point made by my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton. No man or woman thinking about joining our Armed Forces should be left in any doubt about our concerns on this matter. It is surely at the heart of the equality agenda to which we all aspire and which we want to see enacted.

I have a number of questions for the Minister. He mentioned the question of the territorial extent of the Bill so far as it concerns Gibraltar and gave us a good update. One assumes that we will have something, certainly by Report or Third Reading, so that we know whether or not it will extend to Gibraltar.

Secondly, there is some interest in how reports of murder, sexual assault and rape are dealt with in the Armed Forces. Can the Minister confirm what policies are currently in place to deal with such reports, how they are investigated and how they are prosecuted, and will he place a copy of these policies in the Library of the House?

Thirdly, in 2013, during the passage of what is now the Defence Reform Act 2014, the then Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, stated that if there was a case to be made to legislate to provide further employment protection for reservists, this could be done in the Armed Forces Bill. However, the Bill does not currently include any provisions to provide further employment protection for reservists. Can the Minister say why this has not been included in the Bill and whether any case was made to include it when the Bill was being prepared?

Fourthly, there is a gap in the Armed Forces compensation scheme as it impacts upon people with mental health problems. It can take years—perhaps five years or more—for mental health to be diagnosed. Once diagnosed there is no immediate financial assistance under the scheme Those with physical injuries can claim up to £60,000 if their injuries are level 8 or worse, but mental health is classified below this level. The solution may be a fast-track payment for mental health sufferers or even an interim compensation scheme. I appreciate the Minister may want to think about this matter and perhaps we can pursue it in Committee.

On this side we welcome the fact that the Government are finally recognising that homosexual acts no longer constitute grounds for discharging a member from the Armed Forces and that this is being enshrined in law.

I will raise the same question in relation to the Merchant Navy. I recognise that it is outwith the scope of this Bill but what steps have been taken to address this issue in the Merchant Navy? Specifically, can the Minister say whether he has had discussions with the Department for Transport, which has responsibility for the Merchant Navy, and whether we can expect further legislation to ensure that the Merchant Navy is on a level playing field with the Armed Forces on this matter? I accept that he might want to go back to the department before replying on this point, but perhaps we could have some information by Committee.

To conclude, I look forward to working with colleagues across the House on the Bill and I reiterate my party’s support for it. During the time I was a Minister of Defence I had my own mission statement. It was simply this: we will value our service men and women and their families and do everything practical in our power to demonstrate that. I am sure that, by working together across the House on the Bill, we will show the British Armed Forces that we are on their side.