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Deepcut Review

The last time I looked, more than 1,700 families were involved in the ““Deepcut and Beyond”” campaign, and I agree with Mr. Blake when he says in his report that no public inquiry into all the non-combat deaths could ever be concluded, because every such death would extend the process. That is why, as I have made clear many times, we do not favour a public inquiry into these matters. It is not that we have no respect or feelings for the families but, for the reasons that I have given and more, we do not believe that it would be appropriate to go down that route. My hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) should not conclude that there will be an ombudsman and then ask questions about what that person would do. We have said that we will consider Mr. Blake’s recommendations, and that we are looking at how we can introduce an independent non-military presence into the complaints procedure at the higher level. That would give people a guarantee that they could seek redress from someone who was not in the chain of command. The Armed Forces Bill Committee is debating that at present, but we will balance that approach against what Mr. Blake has said. I shall also deal with the matter in my written response to the report.