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Sierra Leone
3. Mr. Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock): If he will make a statement on recent involvement by United Kingdom military forces in Sierra Leone. [70493]
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. George Robertson): The presence of HMS Westminster and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Goldrover off the coast of Sierra Leone demonstrates the United Kingdom's continuing commitment to the Government of Sierra Leone and ECOMOG, and to promoting peace and stability in the region. Those ships, and the troops embarked, have provided much needed humanitarian assistance.
Mr. Mackinlay: Since the restoration of President Kabbah, what troops or units have embarked for Sierra Leone, what was their role, have they been involved in any firing on receipt of firing, and what were the rules of engagement?
Mr. Robertson: My hon. Friend probably knows the answers to his questions.
Mr. Mackinlay: I have not had the brief today.
Mr. Robertson: If my hon. Friend has sat through all the sessions of the Foreign Affairs Committee and does not know that HMS Norfolk preceded HMS Westminster, he is not living up to the high standards that I have always expected of him. I am sure that he does not need a specific briefing. Both those Royal Navy ships and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels with them have given outstanding help, and the trouble and time that they have taken have been deeply appreciated by the Government of Sierra Leone. The rules of engagement are the normal rules that apply in such circumstances, and allow them to return fire only if they are under attack and lives are at risk.
Mr. Julian Brazier (Canterbury): Our armed forces are severely overstretched, the Government are planning a possible large-scale intervention in Kosovo and there is bombing in the Gulf: does not Sierra Leone add just one more overseas operation to the list and expose us to even greater overstretch? At what point will the Government decide either that our armed forces are too small for the jobs that they are expected to do, or that the Government's eyes are too large for their stomach?
Mr. Robertson: We do what we can, as a country and as regards our armed forces. The Government must deal with what we inherited after the previous Government's pretty savage cuts to the Ministry of Defence budget and to the numbers employed in the armed forces.
However, the hon. Gentleman makes the perfectly reasonable point that from time to time a judgment has to be made about what can be done and what can be expected from the people under one's command. That is why we have been able to provide, by means of two Royal Navy warships, considerable help to the authorities in Sierra Leone. They have been outstanding in the humanitarian assistance that they have given. In the past few months, the Government have also been able to give sizeable economic assistance and non-lethal equipment to those serving in Sierra Leone, but there is no intention of becoming militarily involved in that part of the world.
Land Mines
4. Ms Dari Taylor (Stockton, South): When heexpects to complete Britain's land mine destruction programme. [70494]
5. Mr. Peter L. Pike (Burnley):
When he expects to complete Britain's land mine destruction programme. [70495]
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. George Robertson):
I am pleased to announce that we have now destroyed the last of the Army's operational stocks of anti-personnel mines. That is a significant milestone and yet another vivid demonstration of our commitment to the obligations that we accepted when ratifying the Ottawa convention.
Ms Taylor:
I thank my right hon. Friend for that welcome reply. Will he join me in welcoming the action of the Churches, which will ring their bells on 1 March, the start of Land Mines Awareness Week, to celebrate the signing of the Ottawa convention and, in muffled form, to remind us of the horrors that still happen as a result of land mines? Will other stocks of land mines, such as those held by the Royal Air Force, also now be destroyed?
Mr. Robertson:
I join my hon. Friend in commending all those bodies--the Churches, the non-governmental organisations and the rest--that have brought the matter of land mines to public attention. They caught the imagination of people across the world and they must share in the credit for the fact that the Ottawa convention will enter into force on 1 March.
At a small ceremony at lunchtime today, I was able to present the last of the British Army's operational land mines--suitably defused--to representatives of the British Red Cross, Care International, the Mines Advisory Group and the Halo Trust, as a testimony to the work done by those bodies. We all remembered with great regard the contribution made by the late Princess of Wales to that work. The last of the defused land mines was given to the imperial war museum, and I hope that, certainly for the British Army, land mines are a matter of history and not of the future.
As for the remaining anti-personnel land mines, which are a sub-munition of the JP233 airfield denial weapon, I expect that they will all be destroyed by the end of this year.
Mr. Pike:
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the content of those answers. However, in many parts of the world, land mines are not yet history, but are still laid in the countryside. What assistance can the United Kingdom give in getting rid of land mines that remain a threat in those places?
Mr. Robertson:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is not the end, but the beginning of the end, of the land mine campaign. Internationally, we must still deal with those countries that have not yet subscribed to the Ottawa convention, and everyone in the House must use whatever influence he or she has in persuading those countries to sign up to the obligations that the House unanimously took up on ratification.
We must also do more about humanitarian demining and clearing away the legacy of previous wars. I am proud of the contributions made by the UK and by my Ministry in setting up the mine information and technology centre at Minley and in delegating an Army colonel to the Geneva-based humanitarian demining centre and through the other elements in the 10-point programme that I announced last year. We are contributing to solving a global problem on which our minds must be constantly focused if we are to make the world safe for children to walk in all its fields.
Mr. Jonathan Sayeed (Mid-Bedfordshire):
The Secretary of State's statement that this is the beginning of the end seems over-optimistic. Will he remind the House just how many countries with which we are rarely in agreement, and which have large stocks of land mines, have not even started their land mine destruction programmes?
Mr. Robertson:
I believe in leading by example. Today's announcement comes four years ahead of the date on which the Ottawa convention makes destruction of our stocks mandatory. We have no land mines left, and I can say with conviction, and with pride, that no British soldier will ever again lay an anti-personnel land mine. I hope that countries that are still manufacturing, exporting, transferring and--in some appalling cases--using land mines will pay heed to that example.
Mr. David Prior (North Norfolk):
Is the Secretary of State aware of any evidence that there is any decline yet in the production of land mines?
Mr. Robertson:
International pressure is on the countries that manufacture land mines. The significant number of nations that have signed the Ottawa convention, and that have allowed it to come into operation from next week, will make that pressure unsustainable. Producing countries will have to recognise that the world community as a whole regards land mines as an unacceptable form of warfare. Those countries still involved in production will soon realise that they are isolated from a world community that has turned its back on a weapon that is both morally indefensible and militarily unacceptable.
6. Mr. Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex):
What steps he is taking to improve retention in the Army. [70496]
The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. Doug Henderson):
The Government and the Army are committed to achieving full staffing by around 2004. We are, therefore, properly focusing our efforts on both recruitment and retention. The Army's human resources strategy, which puts people first, provides the foundation on which the Army will obtain, retain and sustain its most important assets. An action plan has been produced to support that human resources strategy. It will take forward both the strategic defence review's policy for people initiatives and other innovative measures that the Army has identified to enhance retention.
Mr. Soames:
Does the Minister agree that retention is proving extremely difficult? I have every sympathy with
Mr. Henderson:
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising an important issue facing the Army, and I am pleased that he recognises that there is no quick, easy solution to the problem of raising staffing numbers. I believe that we recruit a soldier but retain a family. It is important to address both ends of that spectrum. First, we have to extend recruitment and try to recruit more women and more people from the black and Asian communities into the Army. I am pleased to be able to tell the House that the number of soldiers is now 18 per cent. higher than it was last year.
As the hon. Gentleman says, it is equally important to retain those who are in the Army. That is why we set up the service families task force, which examines issues such as how to ensure a better education for the children of those who serve in the Army--for example, how they can gain access to schools when they move from one location to another, and how their children can claim grants on their return to the United Kingdom after postings overseas. By examining those practical issues, addressing them and working through the agenda, we shall make remaining in the Army more attractive.
Mr. Harry Cohen (Leyton and Wanstead):
Is not the retention of black and ethnic minority citizens also important? Is it not true that, when the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) was Minister of State for the Armed Forces, there was so much racism and bullying in the armed forces that the Commission for Racial Equality nearly took the Ministry of Defence to court? The Labour Government have made much progress on stopping such racism; will my hon. Friend the Minister keep up the pressure? I hope that members of the black and ethnic minority communities will become senior officers in the Army and serve as role models, so encouraging others to join.
Mr. Henderson:
It is crucial that all sections of the British community be approached by the Army, emphasising that it is a first-choice career for young people who might consider serving with us. However, it is important that we make an extra effort in the black and Asian communities, who comprise approximately 6 per cent. of the British population, but comprised less than1 per cent. of the Army population until 12 months ago. The figures are improving because of recruitment targeting over the past 12 months. I hope that my hon. Friend accepts that we are doing all we can, but that it is not easy to persuade people in those communities, which are often underprivileged, that their sons and daughters can have a good career in the Army.
Mr. Keith Simpson (Mid-Norfolk):
From the questions asked by my hon. Friends the Members for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) and for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier), the Minister will be aware that Conservative Members too are concerned about retention, especially in the light of the poll carried out by the MOD before the strategic defence review took place: that poll
Madam Speaker:
Order. Please ask a question.
Mr. Simpson:
Many people are not taken by the Minister's statement. Will he tell the House whether he is prepared to go back to the Treasury and come up with more resources to meet that major shortfall?
Mr. Henderson:
The hon. Gentleman can either address the issue or try to make party political capital out of it. I was pleased that the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) addressed the real difficulties we face in attracting more people into the armed forces, because that is what we have to do if we are to reduce the overstretch. I hope that the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) recognises that. He should bear in mind the fact that the strategic defence review committed us to an increase of 3,500 people in our Army.
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