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Defence in the UK

I try to get round as many establishments as I can, and I will continue to do so now that Parliament has returned, as I did over the summer. The Whips and parliamentary business allowing, I shall get round to as many establishments as I can, and I hope that that will include the one that the hon. Gentleman mentions. I shall come to issue of accommodation shortly, and I do not think that my comments will be very dissimilar from his. Recognition of our armed forces is not enough. Our most valuable asset in defence is our people. The men and women of the British armed forces are person-for-person the best in the world. They provide security for the nation and accept the unique demands of service. Most markedly, they accept the risk of death or serious harm as part of their job. So it is vital that we do all we can, not just within the MOD but across Government, to ensure that those who serve are not disadvantaged by virtue of what they do. This will in some circumstances call for degrees of special treatment for those who need it. That guiding principle underpinned the Command Paper launched in July. We pledged more than 40 cross-Government initiatives to improve support to our armed forces community. For example, we are doubling the maximum, up-front lump sum compensation for the most seriously injured to £570,000. That is on top of—although the media too often forget it—a tax-free, index-linked guaranteed income payment, which can take the total value of a settlement to in excess of £1.5 million over the course of a lifetime. I was also pleased to see that most of the recommendations made by the Forsyth commission were already in our Command Paper—after all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.