Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Laming (Crossbench). It was answered on Monday, 28 November 2005.

Deepcut Army Barracks

Question: My Lords, does the Minister agree that the military services have an enviable record in changing raw recruits into a fighting military unit? They did it with me, so that is a wonderful testimony to their achievements. But the very fact that the Ministry of Defence has set up so many private inquiries increases people's concern. Has not the time now come for the Government to establish an independent inquiry, held in public, so that people can get to the truth of what happened to those young people?

Answer: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for recognising the tremendous work that is done by the training establishments within our Armed Forces, which is reflected in their very high performance. We recognise, however, that, in common with all parts of society, the Armed Forces have a problem with bullying. We cannot be complacent about that. We have made significant progress on this matter. Bearing in mind that the Blake review is expected to report shortly, it would be wrong to prejudge it by making any statements on whether we would favour a public inquiry or any other inquiry. Let us see the results of the Blake review.

Secondary information