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Armed Forces Bill

My Lords, as I have already said, in Clause 8 we have sought to modernise and limit the offence of desertion. One of the changes that we are making is to remove the maximum penalty of life imprisonment for all cases of desertion. This maximum was only applied to all desertion cases by the Armed Forces Act 1971. We recognise that in some cases it is not appropriate for an offence of desertion to carry the maximum penalty of life imprisonment. However, we are not persuaded that in the most serious cases—that is, when a serviceman is on relevant service—he should not face the possibility of life imprisonment. ““Relevant service”” is the kind of service in which all involved need to be able to rely completely on everyone else involved—a reliance and trust that are undermined where a member of the service leaves his colleagues without permission. It is also the kind of service in which the success of an operation can depend on every member of the force involved. As I said on 24 July, leaving your mates in the lurch at the time they need you most by deserting in the face of dangerous operations is viewed in the Armed Forces as just about the worst thing you can do. I have listened carefully to the arguments that have been made both today and in Committee on this matter, but I do not think that the case has been made for the reduction in the maximum sentence envisaged in the amendment. In such circumstances, a maximum sentence of life imprisonment may be appropriate in an extreme case and should be available as a maximum for a court martial. I trust that the noble Lord will see the requirement for retaining the sentence of life imprisonment in the limited circumstances in which it will continue to be available and understand why I cannot support the amendment.