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Gulf War: Veterans

My Lords, I put my name down to speak in this debate because Gulf War illness is a subject in which I have had a close interest for a long time. Having heard what the noble Lord, Lord Morris of Manchester, and the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, have said, there is very little, if anything, that I can usefully add. I agree with everything that they have said. Like them, I regard the report of the Research Advisory Committee in the United States as providing the answer for which the Government have been looking for so long—namely, the causes of Gulf War illness of 19 years ago. That report establishes that there were two causes: NAPS tablets and organophosphates. As for NAPS tablets, they were taken by our forces at the insistence of the Government. As for organophosphates, that was what their tents were sprayed with—again, organophosphates purchased by the Government. These are the facts established by the Research Advisory Committee report, and in my view it is high time that the Government accepted those facts and acted accordingly.