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THE

PARLIAMENTARY   DEBATES

OFFICIAL REPORT

IN THE THIRD SESSION OF THE FIFTY–THIRD PARLIAMENT OF THE

UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND

[WHICH OPENED 13 JUNE 2001]

FIFTY–THIRD YEAR OF THE REIGN OF

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

SIXTH SERIES    VOLUME 424

TENTH VOLUME OF SESSION 2003–2004

 
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House of Commons

Monday 19 July 2004

The House met at half-past Two o'clock

PRAYERS

[Mr. Speaker in the Chair]

Oral Answers to Questions

DEFENCE

The Secretary of State was asked—

Suez Medal

1. Mr. Graham Allen (Nottingham, North) (Lab): If he will make a statement on the distribution of medals to those who served in the Suez campaign. [184468]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin): Distribution of the Suez medal began last November after the publication of Command Paper 5999 in the House on 23 October. As at the week ending 16 July, 40,297 applications had been received and 11,199 medals had been dispatched. I pay tribute to the hard work of all staff at the medal offices who are dealing with the backlog as speedily as possible under the current arrangements for medal distribution.

Mr. Allen: I will surprise my hon. Friend not by linking this to the question of an Arctic convoy medal, but by paying tribute to him and the Front-Bench team,
 
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I hope, on behalf of hon. Members in all parts of the House, for their superb work in finally awarding the medal to the Suez veterans. That is appreciated by hon. Members of all parties and, indeed, by the veterans themselves. There have been some difficulties and delays, as we would expect on an exercise of this size, but will my hon. Friend tell us how the distribution is going and whether all those brave ex-servicemen will get their medals as soon as possible?

Mr. Caplin: I endorse my hon. Friend's comments and praise him and many other colleagues from all parts of the House who campaigned so assiduously during 2002 and 2003 for the award of a Suez medal. Let me update the House on the current situation. All applications that are received from Suez veterans are acknowledged on receipt. In the medal offices, these are the assessment dates: in the Royal Navy, 5 February 2004; in the Royal Marines, as the applications are received; the RAF is assessing cases received on 26 November 2003; and the Army Medal Office is currently assessing cases received on 31 October 2003.

Mr. Peter Luff (Mid-Worcestershire) (Con): I am sure that my constituents in Droitwich will be very pleased to hear the Minister's tribute to their work in issuing the canal zone medal—one of some 300 to 400 medals issued by the Army Medal Office in Droitwich Spa—but may I tell him perhaps one last time that the proposal to close the Army Medal Office and move it to RAF Innsworth is bound to throw into chaos the distribution of the Suez canal zone medal and other medals? Whatever the long-term merits of moving the Medal Office, please may I ask him not to do it now?

Mr. Caplin: Again, I reject the hon. Gentleman's comments and pleas in relation to the future of the Army Medal Office. It is essential that we establish the Ministry of Defence medal office, and we have taken the decision to establish it at RAF Innsworth. I believe that it will lead to a greater and more beneficial production of medals for veterans, both Suez veterans and those
 
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who are leaving our forces at present. I plan to make a statement to the House when it returns in September about the progress that we will have made during the summer.

Local Regiments

2. Chris McCafferty (Calder Valley) (Lab): What assessment his Department has made of the role of local regiments in encouraging recruitment. [184469]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin): Local regiments play a significant role in encouraging recruitment through regional recruiting teams—I am sorry—through regimental recruiting teams. [Interruption.] Since their formal establishment in early 2002, those teams have contributed greatly to the Army meeting its recruiting targets. Potential recruits list regimental recruiting teams as one of the top reasons why they contact recruiting offices.

Chris McCafferty: Given the very strong local ties that the Duke of Wellington's Regiment has with Calder Valley and Halifax and the impact that that has on recruitment to our armed forces, will my hon. Friend assure me that the Duke of Wellington's Regiment will retain its single cap badge? If he cannot give me that assurance, will he at least ensure that relevant officers in the Army are allowed to participate in any discussion about the future of their regiments?

Mr. Caplin: I am pleased to hear of my hon. Friend's interest in her local regiment, and I can assure her that, in the coming days and weeks, when my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence makes his announcement, we will take her comments into consideration.

Mr. Robert Key (Salisbury) (Con): Is the Minister aware that one of his very senior civil servants recently caused considerable offence by referring to cap badges as logos? Does the Minister understand that soldiers will die for their Queen and country and for their ideals and they may even die for their regiment, but they will not die for cap badges?

Mr. Caplin: I am afraid that I am not familiar with the comments to which the hon. Gentleman referred, but I understand the point that he makes.

Jim Knight (South Dorset) (Lab): The Minister may be aware that there is concern down in Dorset at the possible demise of the Devon and Dorset Regiment and its merger with other west country regiments. Can he assure me that any such decision will be made by the Army and not by Ministers or accountants?

Mr. Caplin: All I can say to my hon. Friend is that, when announcements are due to be made, they will properly be made to the House.

Annabelle Ewing (Perth) (SNP): I have a particular interest in this subject as the regimental headquarters of the Black Watch is in my constituency. The Minister will be aware that the regimental system in Scotland has
 
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proven its worth time and again, not simply in terms of recruitment, but also in terms of retention and operational worth. Why then are the United Kingdom Government planning to scrap the traditional regimental structure in Scotland?

Mr. Caplin: I do not think that the Government need to take any lessons about defence from the Scottish nationalists. I made the point on my visit to Scotland recently that recruitment is essential to keeping the Army in the public eye and it plays an important and continuing role in ensuring and nurturing applicants, particularly young people from Scotland, who have expressed an interest in joining our armed forces.

Mr. John Smith (Vale of Glamorgan) (Lab): Given the enormous success of the relocation of the first battalion of the Welsh Guards to RAF St. Athan in my constituency, does it not make great sense to the cause of recruitment to locate even more units to regions such as south Wales that have such a superb recruitment record?

Mr. Caplin: My hon. Friend will know that it is for the first time in many years—certainly for the first time that I can remember—that that is occurring at RAF St. Athan. That decision was taken by this Government. I also point out that the regimental recruiting teams are an essential part of what we do in all areas, and there are 93 of them across the UK.

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Are we to take the Secretary of State's convulsive reaction to the Minister's Freudian slip as confirmation that The Daily Telegraph had it right last Friday?

Mr. Caplin: Perhaps I should say to the hon. Gentleman that believing all that one reads in newspapers is not the best way to pursue matters.

Mr. David Stewart (Inverness, East, Nairn and Lochaber) (Lab): Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating the Highlanders, who have their headquarters in my constituency? By the end of this year, they will be the best recruited regiment in Scotland. Does he share my view that it is very important to have a strong regional recruitment base and that that is extremely good for the morale of our troops?

Mr. Caplin: I join my hon. Friend in congratulating the Highlanders. He will be aware that although some regiments recruit on a regional basis, other regiments or corps recruit on a national basis, and some do both. There is room for all that.

Mr. Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex) (Con): Does the Minister agree that the great strength for well-run recruiting efforts of the local regiments are their proud and often historic links deep inside the counties and cities from which they spring? Will he further accept that these regiments and all that they mean and have meant to our national life will, once disbanded or amalgamated, never again be recreated?
 
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Mr. Caplin: Perhaps patience will be a virtue for the hon. Gentleman. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will say more about these matters later in the week and in the coming weeks. I looked back at Hansard and I saw the quote:

"The numerical strength of the Army should not be regarded as the primary measure of front-line strength. Its operational capability is of prime importance."—[Official Report, 4 July 1995; Vol. 263, c. 131.]

Those are not my words or those of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State; they are the words of the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) in 1995.

Mr. Soames: Very prescient and admirable words they were, too. I want to press the Minister again, but thank him for his incitement for me to be patient. However, I would like a little frankness from him for a change. Can he confirm that there has not been a cap on recruitment targets for the Army in the training year 2004–05?

Mr. Caplin: I can absolutely and categorically tell the hon. Gentleman that there is absolutely no freeze on recruitment to the British Army.

Mr. Soames: I think that the hon. Gentleman is mistaken. May I suggest that he reads the latest report by the Army Training and Recruiting Agency, a copy of which I have obtained for greater accuracy? It says:

"During the year under review, recruiting group have done well on recruiting against, it should be noted decreasing targets."

Has the hon. Gentleman imposed a cap on recruiting targets to the Army?

Mr. Caplin: The hon. Gentleman indicated earlier that he still agrees with his quote of nine years ago. [Interruption.] If he is patient, as I said, he might get the answer. I can tell him that the whole Army training strength has increased by more than 3,300 in the past two years. Retention is above average levels and recruitment is buoyant. To answer his earlier question, the Army Training and Recruiting Agency has outperformed against the mandated targets over both of the past two years.

Mr. David Drew (Stroud) (Lab/Co-op): To take us back to the main point behind the question, does my hon. Friend accept that the reorganisation that took place less than five years ago to put the Gloucesters in with the Berkshire and Wiltshire regiment has taken some time to work its way through? That is one thing, and we retain the name "the Gloucesters", but it would be quite different if a proposal were coming forth to merge us yet again into a Wessex regiment. I hope that my hon. Friend will take due note of the concern that was expressed locally about any recruitment if such a proposal were brought forward.

Mr. Caplin: I certainly take note of my hon. Friend's comments. I know something about the Gloucesters because of the regiment's involvement in Korea in the 1950s. I was pleased to meet members of the regiment when I visited Korea last summer for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the end of the Korean war.
 
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