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Armed Forces: Chain of Command

My Lords, we all owe a debt of gratitude to my noble friend Lord Campbell of Alloway for the devastating indictment that he has put before the   House. The Armed Forces are overstretched. The Government ask too much of what is available, but they perform magnificently. Therefore, if our forces do not feel that the Government are fully behind them in performing their duty, that would be the last straw. Political interference with the command and control of the British Army in the theatre of war, most especially with the internal disciplinary procedures, which are vital to the effectiveness of any fighting force, is fraught with danger. The morale of our troops at every level can be destroyed when they hear, for example, that their political masters have instructed the Special Investigations Branch to conduct investigations into every allegation of misconduct, however minor, and into every suggestion of misjudgement on the field of battle—and, ““extraordinarily zealously””. In such attitudes, there is a faint echo of Stalin’s 1936 purge of the Soviet army. It meant that the professional military leadership had been removed by 1938, which nearly proved fatal in June 1941. Seldom can there have been such a dire warning in peace time as that being given to the Government today by the noble and gallant Lords who have served our country by leading our Armed Forces with such distinction over the decades, several of whom have been decorated for their courage and effectiveness in the face of the enemy. This year, there has been much recollection of the years leading up to the 1939 war and the warnings given then on the coming call to arms. Therefore, it is astonishing for governments to appear not to recognise that life for the Armed Forces on active service is quite different from normal civilian life. War is different from peace. The same standards do not apply and cannot be imposed. Many examples have been given of what has gone wrong. The story of Colonel Tim Collins, whose inspiring message to his troops on the eve of battle found a place on the desk of the Oval Office, is particularly lamentable. Let us be clear that to sacrifice our military efficiency to political correctness is wholly unacceptable. By ““unacceptable””, I mean unacceptable to the people of this country. At this time, we are engaged in war against revolutionary terrorism throughout the world. Let me offer a definition of such terrorism. It comes from a book entitled Revolutionary Change, which was written by Professor Chalmers Johnson of the University of California at Berkeley and was published as long ago as 1983. He said:"““Revolutionary terrorism is the use of violence against insignificant people in order to affect the behaviour of significant people or their supporters””." Could there be a better description of what is happening daily in Iraq and of what happened last week in London? Our Prime Minister is standing with Churchillian defiance against such actions. But, apart from those who, entirely legitimately, disagree with the military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are those whose hatred of the motives as well as the actions of our Government leads them to use any means to discredit and undermine our Armed Forces. To some of them, every enemy death is murder. They shelter under the cloak of political correctness, but they are, for our country, an enemy within. It is for the Government, especially the Ministry of Defence, to defend the Armed Forces against them. I hope that the debate will result in the Government giving much better backing, not just in resources and equipment—crucial though they are—but in political support for our Armed Forces. I believe that the superb professional efficiency of our Armed Forces is unmatched in any country and that their standing in the eyes of the British people has never been higher.