British Overseas Troops: Civil Liability Claims Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Touhig
Main Page: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Touhig's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(4 years, 4 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, the Armed Forces covenant states that our forces community
“should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens”,
yet this Bill does precisely that. It disadvantages veterans, service men and women and their families. It does so by putting a six-year time limit on them bringing claims against the MoD for personal injury or death. Why do this?
I thank the noble Lord for his question. The Government are committed to introducing these protections to provide greater certainty for our service personnel and veterans. The other side of the coin to which the noble Lord refers is that, for too long, many of our service personnel and veterans have lived under the shadow of endless investigations and vexatious claims for increasingly historical events that occurred in the uniquely complex environment of armed conflict. We regard that as unfair and we regard the Bill as a proportionate response to that challenge.