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Compassionate Leave (Service Personnel)

I welcome the opportunity to debate a narrow but highly important aspect of welfare support for our service personnel and their families. Although I will deal with compassionate leave in particular, it would be useful if I set out the context of the overall welfare support that we provide our servicemen and women at home and while they are serving abroad or on operational deployments. As the hon. Gentleman knows, it is my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary who would normally have replied to the debate and who replied to his letter. He is currently involved elsewhere in his role as Minister for Veterans. I wish the hon. Gentleman had not used the words ““vindictive”” and ““minion”” in his comments. I understand some of the passion that he feels, but he should remember that it was a member of serving personnel who made the judgment. If he is accusing serving personnel of being vindictive, that is quite a charge.