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Armed Forces Bill

The ““absolute”” refers to the defence itself. But, of course, if a soldier who operates within the framework of a rule of engagement acts disproportionately, he will not have that defence. That must follow, not from anything in the Human Rights Act, but from a very long-standing principle of the common law. In any service context the force one uses, whether soldier, airman or sailor, must be reasonable. That principle can never be removed. I suppose it is possible that a Government could remove it by statute, but I cannot think of any Government who would be foolish enough to do so. It underlies everything and would obviously qualify the application of any rule, whether it is the criminal law or a rule of engagement. I was therefore extremely disappointed at the Minister’s response. We accept that the drafting of these amendments could be improved. Having heard the points made by noble and gallant Lords, I would probably want to come back on Report with something much simpler as far as Amendment No. 60 is concerned. In addition, we very much take the point made by the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Inge, about the defence cuts. The Minister suggested that the rules of engagement—I am trying to remember exactly what his words were—provided simply an operational framework. That would seem to provide no comfort at all to our Armed Forces, and I am very puzzled by it. Is the Minister saying that, if a soldier operates within the rules of engagement and uses reasonable force in the circumstances, that should not be an absolute defence to his conduct? Would the Minister be prepared to see a newspaper tomorrow morning report him as saying that, despite the fact that a soldier conforms with a rule of engagement and exercises reasonable force in the circumstances, he is capable of being prosecuted for murder? Is that what he is saying? The Minister has not responded to that so I will leave him to think about it. Meanwhile, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.