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Defence in the UK

I was about to acknowledge that I had not read it—I am extremely grateful for the intervention by the Chairman of the Select Committee. Each year, 20,000 highly trained, motivated and disciplined former service personnel leave the armed forces. They are a fantastic national resource. By the time they leave the forces, individuals are better educated, fitter and more skilled than when they joined. In my view, though, the most important thing is that service life moulds people who leave with values such as integrity, leadership, responsibility and dedication. Those qualities are as welcome in society as they are with employers. The essential relationship between the armed forces, society and the Government will never be undermined by mindless extremists. This was brought into clear focus three weeks ago by a group in Luton who abused the Royal Anglian Regiment as it marched. We must not confuse that disgraceful abuse as being remotely representative of colour, religion, kith or kin. It is not: it is the action of thuggish yobs, and it certainly does not reflect the views of the wider Muslim community. I was enormously pleased to listen to a radio show in which Muslims in Luton condemned the actions of this minority, and I heard the same last weekend from Muslims in my own constituency. We should never forget that. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in our country are prepared to participate in debate and politics rather than abuse the servants of the state. Far worse than what happened in Luton are the killings of Sappers Quinsey and Azimkar. We must not let this deflect us from our path in Northern Ireland. It was a cold-blooded atrocity, wholly abhorrent, which was properly condemned across the political spectrum. I went to Northern Ireland last week to visit 38 and 19 Brigades and found a palpable sense of outrage wherever I went. Indeed, Martin McGuinness, not a man with whom I have agreed often over the years, summed up the views of the majority of the republican movement by denouncing the perpetrators of these shocking and callous acts as "traitors". We must remember that Operation Banner is over. The Police Service of Northern Ireland takes the lead on security there, just as other police services do elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The armed forces provide support as required to the PSNI—again, as per the remainder of the UK. Our people are trying to live normally in Northern Ireland, no differently from elsewhere. This normalisation will not be derailed by a tiny minority. The House should be assured that we will afford the security of our people the utmost seriousness, and that we are doing everything that we can to protect our people from the mindless thugs who seek to attack them. We will provide them with a firm and secure home base—nothing less is acceptable. Both in Luton and Northern Ireland, and across the UK, we must ensure that respect and tolerance are the bases of our society as opposed to extremism, whatever its guise. As so often, the armed forces are on the front line of this fight to protect our basic values, and we must be grateful to them for the job that they do.