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Debate on the Address

My Lords, the House has been treated to some outstanding speeches today. My noble friend Lord Howell has, in a characteristically well thought-out speech, covered important aspects of foreign, Commonwealth and European affairs and international development. I shall focus my remarks primarily on defence matters, but first I must pick up on one of a number of inaccurate comments made by the noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis. My party has absolutely no plans for this country to leave the European Union. I, too, welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Bolton. She comes to this position with a distinguished background and a real understanding of intelligence and security. I look forward to working constructively with her. The noble Lord, Lord Drayson, will be a very hard act to follow. He brought a fresh and commercial perspective to defence procurement. He will be remembered for the defence industrial strategy and for reforming various aspects of defence acquisition. He was responsible for the speedy introduction to operations of some vital equipment, and his departure will be received with dismay by the British defence industry. Like other speakers, including the Minister, I was somewhat surprised at the noble Lord’s abrupt departure, as I was told last night that he would definitely be opening this debate. As the noble Lord, Lord Addington, asked, are we really to believe that the noble Lord woke up this morning with a sudden overwhelming desire to go motor racing in America? I know that the noble Lord was embarrassed by the Prime Minister’s ill considered and unilateral decision to scrap DESO without consulting him. Having said that, I wish the noble Lord, Lord Drayson, well in his new career in the motor sport world. Can the Minister confirm that the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, will also be the Procurement Minister? Our Armed Forces deserve clarification on that point. As the noble Lord, Lord Gilbert, said, I know how much the whole House feels the loss of Lord Garden from this debate. I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Lee of Trafford, as the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman. The debate has given us the opportunity to join in paying tribute to our Armed Forces, which we as a nation have sent to engage on our behalf in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our expression of support and appreciation for members of our Armed Forces, for their courage and their professionalism as they put their lives at risk in this way, is, I believe, absolute and unqualified throughout the House. The noble Lord, Lord Rogan, rightly said that our Armed Forces continue to be a source of national pride. Sunday is Remembrance Day. We will remember, among many others, those who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. We should also remember those who have been injured, some very severely, as the noble Lord, Lord Williamson, pointed out. I also pay tribute to our reserves and their employers. The reserves have had their fair share of operations and I am proud to declare an interest as honorary colonel for the TA regiment. We on these Benches are disappointed that the Government have dropped the coroners Bill from this parliamentary Session. The Government pledged in May 2006 to deal with outstanding inquests but, despite those promises, we now have the highest backlog ever. Will the Minister assure us that that will be dealt with swiftly to remove that unacceptable burden on forces’ families? My noble friend Lord Selsdon mentioned the verdict of the coroner today in the case of Fusilier Gentle. I trust that the Government and the MoD will take on board the coroner’s comments and rectify any failings of the past. I should be grateful if the Minister could confirm—if necessary, by letter—that the specific recommendations of Fusilier Gentle’s board of inquiry have been acted on. Many issues have been raised today, and time does not allow me to refer to every speaker. A number of speakers mentioned Iraq, and assurances were sought on the protection of our Armed Forces. As the hour is late, I shall save my questions on Iraq for the defence debate later this month. However, in a very eloquent speech, the noble Lord, Lord Gilbert, pointed out the seriousness of an attack on Iran. On Afghanistan, several noble Lords commented on the lack of military support by other NATO members, which is undermining NATO. Our allies are not accepting their responsibilities. Twenty-three per cent of the British Army is committed to operations generally and 21 per cent of the American army is committed to operations generally, but the figure is only 5 per cent among other NATO members. The noble Lord, Lord Lee of Trafford, mentioned NATO members’ different rules of engagement and caveats. Concern was expressed over civilian casualties, especially from American bombing and increasingly sophisticated IEDs. That is very worrying, as the Taliban is now apparently using $10 million of South Korean ransom to buy sophisticated weapons from Iran. My noble friend Lord Lyell mentioned the All-Party House of Lords Defence Group; I compliment him on the hard work that he does as its secretary. The noble Baroness, Lady Symons and the noble Lords, Lord Ahmed and Lord Thomas of Gresford, drew the House’s attention to the perilous situation in Pakistan. The noble Lord, Lord Luce, made some very interesting observations about the Gulf region and the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, spoke on Burma and Sudan. My noble friend Lord Jopling was rightly concerned at the lack of co-operation between NATO and the EU. My noble and learned friend Lord Howe of Aberavon mentioned the revival of Russia. The re-emergence of its armed forces is an area that we will need to keep our eyes on in future. My noble and learned friend also gave us a fascinating insight into discussions with the Chinese over Hong Kong before 1997. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Winchester spoke emotionally about the Democratic Republic of Congo. On the Armed Forces, the Minister painted a very rosy picture. However, as my noble friend Lord King pointed out, there is a real crisis of morale among our troops. The pressure on them is greater than at any other time. The noble Lord, Lord Addington, pointed out graphically the real problems caused by overstretch and the noble Viscount, Lord Brookeborough, spoke of the large number of service personnel needing welfare support. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, was concerned that the CSR settlement will not be enough and that something will have to be delayed or abandoned. He questioned the wisdom of going ahead with two aircraft carriers. We on these Benches support the carrier project. We believe that they will project our power and influence in the world for many years to come, but will they go ahead? There are concerns that the money to pay for short-term fixes will have to come from the equipment programme. The noble and gallant Lord is right to say that there are likely to be cuts. Cost reduction exercises are going on at the moment within the MoD. I understand that the Future Lynx programme is at risk of being cancelled. Will the Minister comment on this? What about FRES? There is similar concern that the defence budget will not allow all the proposed naval programmes to be fulfilled to the level that service chiefs would like and that more frigates or destroyers will have to be mothballed. Having committed themselves to the carriers, can the Government give assurances about T45 destroyer numbers? The Government have pledged six; the Royal Navy wants eight. Will the Government comment on the numbers of Astute submarines and on progress on the MARS programme? This is essential if the Government’s expeditionary strategy is to be credible and if carrier-deployed special operations are to be possible in the future. On Army equipment, the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, mentioned the Mastiff, which has been very successful on operations. Will the noble Lord, Lord Malloch-Brown, give an assurance, if necessary by letter, that the suspension problems have now been sorted out? On the Royal Air Force, I was pleased to see that Typhoon has recently begun trials with heavy weapon loads. There have been safety concerns about Hercules and Nimrod, which I believe the noble Lord, Lord Lee of Trafford, mentioned. We will return to this important issue in the defence debate later this month. We welcome the Government’s current consultation proposals on limiting executive powers on war and treaties, and look forward to working with them on this vital issue. Will the Minister say when we are likely to see a draft Bill? Yesterday, as the noble Lord, Lord Addington, said, we learnt that there will be a 30 per cent increase in PAX life assurance premiums. Fifty-eight thousand members of the Armed Forces have taken out insurance with PAX. In light of the real concern about this issue in the Armed Forces, I should be grateful if the Minister could say something about it in his winding-up speech. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, and the noble Lord, Lord Rogan, mentioned the military covenant, which is being cynically broken again and again by a Government who will wars but refuse to accept responsibility for their consequences, whether political, moral or financial. The troops need something just as important: respect. The public, and worse the Government, all too often fail to understand or appreciate the sacrifices that our service men and women are making. Take the case of the Secretary of State for Defence and for Scotland, an appointment that was described by the noble Lord, Lord Gilbert, as most disgraceful. If the Secretary of State cannot devote his entire attention to working on his troops’ behalf, how can he expect them to give him their loyalty? No Prime Minister who truly understood and respected our Armed Forces would have reduced the great office of Secretary of State for Defence to a part-time job. As Chancellor, the Prime Minister showed himself to be indifferent to the needs of our Armed Forces. However, we read in the Daily Telegraph that he admires courage and the exploits of military heroes of the past, so I hope that he will now have the courage to ensure that the military heroes of today and their families are properly looked after in return for their sacrifices in the line of duty.