Military Covenant

Sandra Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 16th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Murphy]

The hon. Gentleman knows that I respect him and we try to find common causes, but it is the manifesto on which he stood and in which his Prime Minister made a commitment.

[Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that various issues of concern to military families will be included in the report on the military covenant and that the content of that report should be determined by the external reference group and not by the Secretary of State?

[Mr Murphy]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The military covenant should not be whatever the Government of the day determine it to be. It should not be at the whim of Ministers to decide in a report what is and is not in the covenant. My hon. Friend makes a very important point.

The Government say that it is not necessary to detail the military covenant, in principle, in law, because they are already taking action. They mention the covenant in the report and it was mentioned in the Armed Forces Bill Committee. All those involved in the debate today—except, perhaps, for you, Mr Deputy Speaker, because you are free from involvement in these debates—will have received an e-mail from the Royal British Legion, which stated:

“As the nation’s guardian of the Military Covenant, we would be very grateful if you could urge the Government to honour the Prime Minister’s welcome commitment last June to enshrine the Military Covenant in law. We do not understand why the Government is now claiming that the commitment to produce an ‘Armed Forces Covenant Report’ is somehow the same thing as enshrining the Military Covenant in law. It is not the same thing at all.”

I urge hon. Members from both Government parties to listen to the legion’s voice and vote for the motion today.

The military covenant cannot be whatever Government Ministers of the day deign it to be. It should be defined in law so that it is removed from the cut and thrust of party politics. If the Secretary of State is true to his word, which I believe him to be, he should meaningfully define the covenant in law. What is needed is specific legislation to put the definition of the covenant on a legal footing. In the words of Chris Simpkins, the director general of the Royal British Legion:

“To suggest an annual covenant report would be as effective as a piece of legislation is nonsense and would be evidence of the Government doing a U-turn on their explicit promises.”

--- Later in debate ---

[Sandra Osborne]

When the Secretary of State refers to communities, does that include local communities where there are currently armed forces bases? What about the contribution that they have made over the years, and what about the economic impact on those communities of the closure of bases?

[Dr Fox]

As the hon. Lady knows, we are spending a great deal of time and effort getting the balance of the bases correct, primarily for our national security needs, but we will also take into account the social and other impacts that the changes will have. The hon. Gentleman from the Scottish National party who is normally in his seat usually intervenes at this point. We are aware of the changes—

--- Later in debate ---

[Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)]

It is an incredible pleasure to follow all the Back Benchers who have spoken this evening, as their speeches have shown the House of Commons at its best in terms of expertise and the passion with which Members have been speaking.

I start by paying tribute to our forces and the sacrifices they make for our country, and by referring to the grief of the families of those who have been lost. When I recently went to Afghanistan with the Select Committee on Defence, we visited a forward operating base—I believe this was the first time the Committee had done so—and the dangers faced by our soldiers on a daily basis were obvious and very humbling. Through the work taking place there and at Camp Bastion, together with the training of the Afghan army and police, we are seeing real progress, but for me it was the professionalism of our forces that shone through. The best part of the visit came when we spoke face to face with members of the forces. I was left in no doubt that they are extremely worried about their terms and conditions, and their future pension arrangements, and that many did not feel that they were being treated fairly. I had similar conversations when the previous Government were in office and I acknowledge that members of the armed forces were not happy then either. We have to acknowledge that much more can be done. The shadow Secretary of State outlined what had been done, but we need to make more progress.

In the House, we are rightly always hearing warm words of appreciation for our forces, but they can ring hollow if they are not put into practice in the military covenant and if promises are made and then not kept. In the Armed Forces Bill Committee, the Minister responsible for veterans said that the covenant is a “moral obligation” and a “philosophical statement” and therefore does not need to be spelled out in detail or enshrined in law. That is, of course, the exact opposite of the promise that the Prime Minister made on the Ark Royal—the “Ark of the covenant” perhaps.

My constituency in the south-west of Scotland covers large parts of Ayrshire that are closely associated with the Covenanters, who stood for the preservation of Presbyterianism against all attempts to re-establish Catholic or Episcopalian Church government—that is perhaps not the happiest of illustrations for our Front-Bench team of Murphy and Doyle to take on board. My point is merely that covenants are scattered throughout history, nowhere more so than in biblical times. They often represented the most deeply held beliefs and were of life and death proportions. The adjectives most commonly associated with them were words such as “solemn” and “binding”. It was seldom enough for them to be written in the hearts and minds; it was far better for them to be written on tablets of stone or in blood.

The military covenant is no less a thing; it is not a mere service level agreement and it is more than a bundle of moral obligations or philosophical statements. Moral obligations and philosophical statements do not pay the bills for our service personnel or veterans, nor do they give guarantees in legislation, which is the promise that was made and the promise that should be kept.

[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a tremendously impressive speech on this issue. The people of Barnsley, in my constituency, have great regard for the armed forces and they expect the Members they elect to this House to reflect that fact in not only everything they say, but everything they do. Does she agree with that?

[Sandra Osborne]

Yes, very much so.

We are fortunate that both the Armed Forces Bill Committee and the Defence Committee contain Members who have served with distinction in the armed forces, for example, the hon. Member for Milton Keynes North (Mark Lancaster), who spoke with such authority. I have not served in the forces, so I am grateful that I have had the chance to take part in the armed forces parliamentary scheme. As hon. Members will know, the scheme allows MPs to spend some 22 days a year with a particular service. Surprisingly enough, in my case it was with the Royal Marines and although it was in no way equivalent to the experience of actual service, it certainly opened my eyes to the reality of the job being done, as well as providing opportunities to speak frankly and off the record to the rank and file. I commend the scheme to hon. Members who might not be aware of it—it is very useful, especially given that relatively few Members of the House have served with the armed forces.

One issue that worries me about the Armed Forces Bill is the narrow way it is framed in terms of specifying the issues that should be included in the covenant. Education, health and housing are very important, but none of them comes under the remit of the MOD. That is not an adequate list of the many issues that exist and, as hon. Members have said, are by no means the only matters of concern. Pensions are of major concern and not just in relation to the retail prices index/consumer prices index debate: widows’ allowances are also of concern. The agreement on pensions is being changed retrospectively and members of the armed forces feel aggrieved about that because they joined the forces in the belief that they would be guaranteed a decent pension. Now they feel let down. I mentioned the external reference group earlier because I think it is important that we have a level of independence. I do not make a party political point: I believe that Governments of any persuasion have a vested interest in highlighting the areas that suit them and ignoring those that do not. For example, why have pensions not been included even though they are obviously a hot issue?

Health care is extremely important and I was delighted to hear that the Secretary of State is prioritising mental health services. Combat Stress in my constituency does a tremendous job for people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, including through cognitive behavioural therapy. I strongly welcome the prioritisation of mental health services and I look forward to the development of further services, but I repeat that a promise made should be a promise kept.

--- Later in debate ---

[Bob Russell]

I am not a lawyer; all I know is that the Bill, which I hope will become an Act, refers to the armed forces covenant. Should there be more than that, or should there be less? I do not know, but I do know that as the years unfold, that concept will be developed and built upon. Not only the Royal British Legion but other charities are involved. We have heard about the external reference group, but in fact a breakdown of that group has shown that the majority of its membership is within Government. It is more of an internal reference group, with a few very important external people added on.

[Sandra Osborne]

The hon. Gentleman will recall from the activities of the Bill Committee that the devolved Administrations are involved in the external reference group. So far, that is the only way in which they have been consulted on the Bill. Does he agree that such consultation is important?