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30 Jan 2007 : Column 26WH—continued
In Bosnia, the UK led the EU military mission throughout 2005 and continues to have more than 600 troops stationed there. The reforms that followed have been significant, and include the establishment of a
single Ministry of Defence and a single multi-ethnic armed force. The local authorities are increasingly gaining the skills to deal with weapon confiscation and combating organised crime. Training and assistance are being provided to equip former soldiers for civilian life. Crucially, on top of that, nine people indicted for war crimes have been captured.
In Sierra Leone, the arrival of British troops allowed for the evacuation of UK, EU and Commonwealth citizens. Meanwhile, the securing of Freetown’s airport in 2003, combined with regular patrols, paved the way for the arrival of UN aid and a subsequent UN peacekeeping mission that restored peace and stability to the country. Alongside that, the UK and the US were jointly responsible for construction of the special court presiding over the trial of the most appalling, murderous men this world has ever seen.
I had the privilege of going to Sierra Leone and spending time with the Army. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate those personnel on their endeavours. Sierra Leone is rarely discussed, yet the nature of its civil war was unprecedented in world history. Appalling acts were committed, and I commend Army personnel on how they have conducted themselves since they liberated Freetown.
The Army is now part of a UN force in Sierra Leone that is doing great good. Many people throughout the world may wish to see the back of the Army and an end to its work, but people in Sierra Leone willingly shake one’s hand and thank God that we are there. We have saved them from a horror that we can only imagine, but that they, unfortunately, have lived through.
British forces are always ready to be involved in humanitarian relief assistance. Three Chinooks flew more than 330 hours to deliver nearly 1,700 tonnes of aid following the earthquake in south-east Asia in 2005, and a team of Royal Engineers was able to construct emergency shelters at 5,500 ft using expertise derived directly from field training exercises.
We are also able to maintain strong links with many nations through joint training exercises around the globe. At Goose Bay in Canada, the RAF is able to practise low flying and in Alberta—again, I have been to the area and spent three days with the infantry there—the Army trains six regiments a year. A full infantry battalion is able to conduct a wide variety of training from section attacks to battalion attacks, much of which involves live firing, in one of the Army’s largest training exercises.
In Kenya, Exercise Grand Prix allows training in a range of climates and terrain. Such training is essential for the challenges that the modern world presents. In Belize, 1,000 British Army and RAF personnel pass through a training programme each year, and the Royal Engineers, of which I am very proud, undertakes a three-month construction exercise that benefits not only our soldiers, but the residents of Belize.
Our armed forces also gain strong international links through foreign recruits, with approximately 10 per cent. of the Army’s strength recruited from outside the UK. Membership is open to and positively encouraged among Commonwealth members.
The benefits of maintaining our military strength and remaining a key military contributor work from the bottom up. Those who serve in our Army can gain skills that will serve them for life, whether in or out of the services. Approximately 45 per cent. of armed forces recruits have very low educational skills. By joining the Army, they receive help to master that problem and to gain other skills that will serve them for life.
I am delighted that the Army has now taken steps to ensure that any qualifications gained while serving in and being supported by the Army are accredited against the UK non-Army training facility. As such, there have been 12,710 level 2 or 3 national vocational qualifications, and, I am delighted to say, 5,718 apprenticeships, 2,527 advanced apprenticeships and 544 foundation degrees. In addition, 279 personnel were also able to gain graduate or postgraduate degrees. We as a nation will benefit from that immense skill resource when those men and women decide to retire from the Army. It is an excellent investment.
Experience abroad continues to benefit the Army. A complete assessment of potential threats is impossible, so the broader the range of skills gained, the more we strengthen our ability to deal with any threat. In March 2003, the Ministry of Defence Joint Doctrine and Concepts Centre stated that the greatest threat to UK security would occur if the strategic environment were to change faster than the UK could acquire or apply resources to meet dangers. By playing a leading role in the world, our armed forces can gain daily hands-on experience of the techniques and abilities of our enemies, therefore receiving the best education in how to face the enemy of tomorrow.
The skills that the armed forces gain, both internally and externally, go on to advance British interests by providing us with the abilities to respond to threats wherever they emerge and whatever their nature might be. The growing threats from scarce resources, famine and religious and ethnic tensions are all examples of problems that can escalate and result in hatred, conflict and the subsequent destabilisation of a region. When those problems become globalised, the issues begin to affect the global economy, energy security and the UK and its allies.
Foreign missions not only serve to reduce imminent threats to our security, but give the armed forces opportunities to continue to learn and develop so that they can deal with future security threats. The lessons learned can also be applied in the training that we can offer the security forces in countries where we have troops based, as can our skills in construction and rebuilding.
By working as part of coalitions, as will be the case in most future engagements, we not only build stronger ties with our allies, but we can learn from those with experience of the problems we face. The threats from international terrorism are an issue not just for this incumbency, but for this generation. We must continue to lead in the search for a better, safer, more prosperous world, for it is there that our national security is truly based. We must be willing to consider and pursue all means possible to achieve our ends. Issues such as climate change or aid to developing countries are ones on which Britain is leading and are certainly means by which global stability and progress can be aided.
We have highly experienced, well-trained, motivated and professional armed forces that must be used proportionately and appropriately—and, crucially, must never be ignored as an option. They must be maintained as a force that can participate in high-intensity warfighting operations, but that maintains the qualities essential for peacekeeping and humanitarian support. If we place that responsibility on our armed forces, we must be prepared to provide them with the political and financial support to achieve the demanding and essential tasks for which we require them, which the men and women of our armed forces are trained for and willing to perform.
The search for national security in the modern world is just beginning. To retreat would be foolhardy and weak. We must continue to lead, adapt, innovate and secure. The fight will not be won overnight and it might at times seem short of significant victories. Mistakes will occur and, tragically, lives will be lost, but the threat to our national security posed by restricting the role of the armed forces cannot be overestimated.
We should not allow the loss of life in Iraq and Afghanistan to put us off future acts of military aggression. When right is on our side and the security of our nation is at stake, we must be prepared to use attack as the best form of defence. I believe in a Britain that will not sit back passively and allow itself to be attacked, nor fall back into the pack or drift into global insignificance.
11.13 am
Sir Robert Smith (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): I welcome the opportunity to take part in the debate. I had originally intended to make some interventions on issues raised by constituents, but I shall take the opportunity to make a wider assessment of the concerns that have been brought to me which the Minister can address.
I congratulate the hon. Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas) on securing the debate. It is important to recognise the significant contribution that the British Army makes to this country’s well-being. The sacrifice that is made by the men and women who serve in our armed forces needs to be recognised and tribute needs to be paid to them.
The hon. Lady made clear the importance of recognising the interaction between the roles of the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The two have to go hand in hand in understanding first what resources are needed and, secondly, what resources are available when it comes to assessing our position in the world. We should not take for granted what is available from the Army and has been built up over generations, and we should not put at risk what we hand on to future generations. We are the custodians of something that has not happened overnight. Today’s Army is the product of many generations of commitment, sacrifice, training, understanding and professionalism. We will not be thanked if we put that at risk.
It is important that we recognise the weaknesses in our armed services and that we repair them. We should recognise, too, in our foreign policy how far our ambitions can go without overstretching our armed forces, which would put at risk what has been built up.
I come from the north-east of Scotland, and the regimental structure was engrained into links with the armed forces. The Gordon Highlanders, of course, have a great tradition in north-east Scotland. It is important that with the merger of regiments those links are not lost for those previous service people who fought for and served our country. Those links should not be lost as part of the way of ensuring recruitment for the future.
I congratulate the MOD on recognising, through the veterans medal, the strength of feeling that people have for the time they have served in the services. I recently encouraged people to come forward with a new deadline for when people can apply for such a medal, and the enthusiasm, the interest shown and the way in which the phone has been ringing off the hook in the office shows that people want to be recognised for what they have given and for the commitment that they have made. The network that can be built among veterans and the support network between them is extremely important.
One of our problems as Members of Parliament is that people come to us with anecdotes about problems in the armed services and often, because of the nature of the chain of command and the discipline, they say that they do not want what they have said to be related back to the armed forces. The Minister is often faced with problems based on anecdotes and has to give us a response in the context of the wider picture. However, there has been worrying feedback from those on the front line and in the services about overstretch, to use the jargon. Some of the ways in which it manifests itself have been raised, such as people having to buy more equipment than they have been allocated to make their job easier.
One more recent concern, which I raised in the debate on Iraq, was mentioned by a constituent. Obviously, when someone joins the military, they have to go where they are needed and provide whatever functions are needed, especially in a crisis or emergency. However, someone joined the RAF in a specialist role—they had been trained in packing equipment to be loaded on to Hercules aircraft for logistical purposes—and found themselves suddenly taken on a short, sharp training course to go into a peacekeeping role in Iraq on the front line. If the armed forces have to fill in like that and reposition people ad hoc to make it possible for the armed forces to carry on functioning on the ground, it suggests that we are putting a greater burden on them than they might be able to take in the long run. The military are obviously capable, in short, sharp bursts, of taking on extra burdens over and above those that are planned for, but if the over-commitment is sustained, there is a worry that we will damage those abilities for the long term as well as the abilities to use the armed forces in the future.
Another more recent point that was raised with me concerned the way in which tours of duty and the amount of active deployments have an impact on training. For those looking in from the outside it might seem that training on the front line is effective, because people are practising those roles for which they have been trained. The feedback from those serving is that they do not necessarily get the breadth of training that a true training environment would give. We need to
remember to take people out of the front line and cycle them through the training so that they have all the building blocks that they need for a flexible response next time. We cannot rely on the assumption that because they have been on the front line for so long they have sufficient experience and do not need training. That point was raised with me only yesterday, so I have not dug fully into it. How can we ensure, with the resources that we have, that the building blocks for the next deployment are properly put in place so that people are not put at risk?
The hon. Lady praised our armed forces peacekeeping work. The danger is that we take for granted how good our armed forces are; it is almost a cliché. Their skills and their instincts make them extremely effective in their peacekeeping role. They engage with other countries and other cultures, using the experience of others for those whom they are there to help. We must not be too arrogant, but our forces do much to train other countries in peacekeeping, engaging with the local population and in winning hearts and minds.
I recently visited Pakistan with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Given the traditional links between our countries and Pakistan’s understanding of our military ethos and our foreign policy traditions, surprise was expressed that we had allowed ourselves to get involved with the Americans in such a poor way when tackling the transition in Iraq. In particular, Pakistan could not understand why we had allowed the destruction of the internal regime. Our armed forces had not done what the British traditionally do. When we go into another country, we obviously change the leadership, but often we use the institutions of that country to help us in our peacekeeping role.
We may not be the largest partner among our allies, but the Americans have a lot to learn from our experience in peacekeeping. If we are to work with them, we need to ensure that they take on board our understanding and our experience, as history suggests that we have a better track record than they do.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: I find the hon. Gentleman’s comments interesting. I have not been to Iraq, although I hope to go there. It would be great if the Americans listened to us, but one of the primary problems is that their training and recruitment programmes are totally different to the British model. Someone can be walking the streets in the US one day and serving on the front line the next. We do not do that to our troops. It is difficult to get military commanders to appreciate that systemic difficulties preclude them from raising their game and copying the good practices to which he refers.
Sir Robert Smith: The hon. Lady reinforces my slight worry about the anecdote that I heard of someone who joined the RAF and ended up on the front line in Iraq. That person joined to do one thing but found himself doing something very different. We must be careful that overstretch does not start doing damage at the edges in a similar way to the American system.
When such sacrifices are made on our behalf in other parts of the world, our treatment of the injured and wounded becomes topical.
The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram): I am interested in what the hon. Gentleman says about RAF personnel. Clearly people joining the forces learn a particular trade or skill. As I understand it, he is talking about a loadmaster, which is a deployable skill or trade. I am surprised that people should think that they can join the forces and not find themselves in a theatre of conflict or engaged in peacekeeping operations. I hope that he can give me more information on that as I am concerned that people might think that they can do only one job in the armed forces, whether in the Army, the Royal Navy, the Air Force or the Royal Marines.
Sir Robert Smith: The concern raised by the relative was not that it was a deployable skill—they recognised that it would be deployed—but that the person was being deployed to do a peacekeeping role on the streets, on the front line, and that they were not being deployed to use their skill. The concern was that the person was being used not in an RAF regimental role but in a military role with the Army. I shall ask the constituent for more details and pass them on to the Minister.
One problem that Members have is that it is often relatives who raise individual cases based on anecdotal evidence. The constituent has every right not to be fingered as having raised a problem when it was the relative who did so, having seen what had happened to them.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: I have had the opportunity to go to a number of training establishments and have spent time in the Army career offices. I have heard and seen thousands of people going through their training exercises, but there is no suggestion that people are trained for a specific skill and then sent out. All people, young and old, recruited into the Army will do the basic training and then specific training. That basic training is designed to equip the individual for a range of tasks. If their profile suggests that they can execute a particular role, they are sent to that role. I also accept that they may not have had experience in that role—
Mr. Bill Olner (in the Chair): Order. The hon. Lady’s intervention is too long.
Sir Robert Smith: I will engage with the Minister in more detail if my constituent is willing to take the matter further. We need to test whether it was a misunderstood one-off or whether it was an example of possible overstretch and that the level of deployment does not allow for the effective rotation of training.
There have been welcome developments in the treatment of the injured and wounded, with the introduction of more medical management to the Selly Oak hospital, the main hospital for the wounded. Will the Minister update us on developments? Those who have served before, who grew up with the support that was available from the Royal Army Medical Corps, know how difficult it will be for the next generation.
We understand the professionalism of the acute medical care that is now available. The Government have taken on board the experience needed by the surgeons, and the ethos and management of the wards need to be developed so that people in recovery can maintain their links with the military. The introduction of medical management to the wards was a welcome recognition of that concern.
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