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Armed Forces

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord King for tabling this timely Motion and for setting the scene for the debate in the way he did. I join other noble Lords in sending my condolences to the families of service men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I also congratulate the Minister on his promotion to Minister of State. Our debate has been wide-ranging but there have been some half-dozen recurring themes: unqualified admiration for the courage and professionalism of our Armed Forces; concerns about the eventual military outcome of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan; overstretch; equipment shortcomings; continuing medical treatment of casualties; and concerns about funding as compared with commitments. On the first of these, several noble Lords have mentioned the covenant that must exist between the Armed Forces, the Government and the wider public. Our Armed Forces risk their lives to ensure the freedoms we all enjoy. Their commitment needs to be reinforced by confidence that in return they will have the support of the Government and the public at all times. However, recent public remarks by senior officers would suggest that that has been sadly damaged. In that context, I am concerned at the number of abortive courts martial, after unacceptable delays in preparation, relating to alleged misconduct by members of the Armed Forces. If there is such misconduct—clearly, from time to time there is—it is absolutely right that the evidence should be collected, and sustainable charges based on sustainable evidence should be brought; but it is unacceptable that in pursuance of calls for exemplary justice, unsustainable charges should be laid against soldiers, some of whom are apparently selected on account of their rank. My noble friend Lord Luke raised important issues about accommodation. Our Armed Forces deserve the best accommodation we can provide, so why are some soldiers living in grimmer conditions than prisoners? I hope that the Minister will take on board the point made by my noble and learned friend Lord Mayhew about delays in troops receiving newspapers and letters. Recent announcements of further troop contributions to Afghanistan underline the difficult task we continue to face there, added to the possible need to halt troop withdrawals from Iraq should the security situation worsen. We cannot abandon Afghanistan to become once more the haven of terrorists and drug traffickers. The NATO ISAF mission in Afghanistan sadly displays a lack of burden-sharing, which should be properly inherent in an alliance, and the adverse effect of undermining unity of command that follows from national caveats. The course being pursued in Afghanistan further gives rise to concern on three main points: counter-narcotics, the development of fully effective Afghan national forces and reconstruction on the ground. While this country takes the lead on counter-narcotics, the role and assigned responsibility of our Armed Forces on the ground in relation to this purpose is at best incoherent. We must determine the actual involvement of our Armed Forces. If they are not to be directly involved, that should be explained unambiguously to Parliament and the public. Supporting the development of the Afghan National Army must be clearly identified and stated. It must play a part in the role of our Armed Forces and should not be allowed to remain simply a pious aspiration. Thirdly, high among our overall objectives in Afghanistan are reconstruction, development and good government. Observations I hear from many returning soldiers tell me that the people DfID has in Afghanistan are often only prepared to set about these purposes in a zero-risk environment. Could the Minister comment on that? If the British Government are to measure and report accurately to the public on what they have committed our Armed Forces to do in Afghanistan, they must stop talking as if these broader aspirations are always feasible. Nearly one in six soldiers is being sent on missions more often than is recommended under Army guidelines. For instance, the King’s Royal Hussars have had to go straight to Afghanistan from Iraq. Some of the individual shortfall statistics are extraordinary; for example, there is a shortfall of 68 accident and emergency nurses. With this in mind is it so surprising that the forcesare finding it increasingly difficult to recruit or that retention rates are so poor, which in turn aggravates overstretch? My noble friends Lord Freeman and Lord Glenarthur mentioned the reserves and the TA. Overstretch has greatly increased reliance on the reserves. As the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Boyce, said, the Royal Navy is critically overstretched. Any further cuts by the Government would seriously damage what is already a strategic mismatch between our current naval commitments and our resources. The United Kingdom’s naval capability is a key national security interest. Britain, an island nation, cannot but be a maritime power. Because Britain’s well-being and energy supplies depend on trade, it has an unusually acute interest in maintaining global stability. Several noble Lords, including my noble friend Lady Fookes, have mentioned the carriers. Could the Minister update the House on progress, or maybe lack of progress, and say whether we and the French are at the point of a signature on the new carriers? Many noble Lords, including my noble friend Lord Arran, have expressed concerns about shortcomings in equipment for operations. My noble and learned friend Lord Mayhew mentioned the shortcomings of the Snatch Land Rover. Why have these shortcomings, shortages and inadequacies of equipment been a constant refrain in Iraq and Afghanistan? I remind noble Lords that the Prime Minister promised commanders in Afghanistan, saying, "““anything they need and ask for in order to protect our troops I will make sure that they get””." Several noble Lords were concerned about the adequacy and appropriateness of medical treatment, particularly longer-term care for traumatic stress. I was very comforted by the positive feedback from the visit to Selly Oak by my noble and learned friend Lord Mayhew and my noble friend Lord Lyell. I share my noble friend Lord King’s thoughts for the many wounded. The needs of servicemen wounded on active service are different from those of civilian patients. They must be allowed to recover from the effects of their wounds and associated trauma, surrounded by colleagues and companions who understand and can sympathise with their plight. This point was well made in an excellent speech by the noble Lord, Lord Bilimoria, and the noble Lord, Lord Burnett, a distinguished former Royal Marines officer, whom I welcome to our numbers. Several noble Lords, including the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Bramall, and my noble friend Lady Park have concerns about Armed Forces funding. Our first concern must be for the efficiency, or otherwise, with which the existing defence budget is disbursed. The answer lies, in substantial part, in the straightforward better management of resources now being squandered, a point eloquently made by my noble friends Lord James and Lord Marlesford. The recent detailed reports by the Commons Defence Committee on FRES, the family of vehicles envisaged for the Army, and bythe Public Accounts Committee on the Bowman communication system, mentioned by my noble friend Lord Marlesford, make it clear that work on both these long-drawn-out, multi-million pound projects has been riddled with mistaken assumptions, bureaucratic delays and a repeated inability to reach timely decisions. I therefore congratulate the Minister on enthusiastically taking up the motor sport industry’s offer to help the defence industry in innovative ways. My noble friend Lady Fookes and the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Guthrie, mentioned training. The constant interruption of individual and collective training will inevitably lead to a decline in professional standards, damaging the Armed Forces’ ability to conduct war-fighting operations. Unless corrected, this could lead to catastrophic failure. It could lead also to unnecessarily high casualty levels. There can be no surprise at the emergence in this debate of these broad themes; nor, sadly, can there be surprise at the numerous, more detailed concerns expressed and the telling evidence cited. We need not only to recognise and analyse these issues, but also, in so far as they point to the need for action, to reflect on what should and can be done about them. Asthe noble and gallant Lord, Lord Inge, said, the Armed Forces deserve the full support of the Government.