| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
We remember the imaginative underwater Cabinet meeting with which the President of the Maldives brought worldwide attention to his country's plight. Just because he represents a beautiful country, we should have no doubt that he not only speaks for all who fear the
impact of climate change on the world's most impoverished nations but that he gets to the heart of the fact that contemporary politics struggles with a response to issues beyond the immediate. The Government should accept no compromises as they work for the best possible settlement.
Similarly, on Afghanistan, a long period of contemplating the possible options for General Stanley McChrystal runs the risk of seeming drift, as our own and other NATO forces wait for a decision about new deployment. Over the past 12 months, the relationship of all our constituencies with our forces has deepened, as we have understood that a matter of geopolitics-dealing with forces and issues of massive consequence-all too often comes down to a dread visit from Army liaison and a knock on the door.
We are all immeasurably appreciative of and grateful for what our forces have been achieving on our behalf-the universal sentiment of everyone in the House today. In March, the 2nd Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment returned from Iraq, and the soldiers were celebrated by Biggleswade town council on behalf of all my constituents. Their tale is instructive. Two years ago their work as mentors with the Iraqi forces was deemed impossible, yet they left this year with a string of successes, having built a firm base for the future, exactly what we wish to see in the more inhospitable climate of Afghanistan, where voices are similarly raised saying that the job is impossible.
This week a group of youngsters in Sandy will begin packing boxes of Christmas treats for those serving in Afghanistan. The crowds at this year's Remembrance day emphasised both their respect and their anxiety for a cause that they desperately want to understand and support, but of which they are truly fearful. Reiteration by the Government of our role with greater clarity than they have given us up to now, reassurance on equipment and training and, surely, persistence with the President for a decision on the next steps should be the minimum outcome of consideration of the Gracious Speech.
The Europe that President Obama has to deal with bears the massive imprint of the events of 20 years ago, which have been the subject of much discussion in recent weeks. To those of us who remember those events as parliamentarians, the wonder of the achievement of the fall of the wall is never likely to disappear. Many of us have our own recollections. Mine are as an observer to the first free elections in Berlin in 1990. My hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) also remembers them well. Seeing those first ballot boxes open-Tories take East Berlin-was a matter of enormous joy for those of us who were there and will remain a highlight of our political memories.
But Europe is never still. I commend the work of the Westminster Foundation, supported by all parties, which does much to prepare and support those looking to enhance democracy in Europe and beyond. A number of countries have joined an enlarged EU as a result of the events of November 2009. Through the foundation, I have been a regular visitor to Macedonia, and I urge the Government to continue to do all they can to assist in the efforts to resolve the outstanding name issue with Greece. It cost that country its membership application
for NATO last year, and might, if unresolved, stall Macedonia's application for EU entry, risking destabilising what is still a fragile region.
The Government's failure to deliver the referendum on the Lisbon treaty has further weakened the position of the EU in this country, and their determination, particularly in their dying days, to use the EU largely as a domestic party political issue to divide them from my party does them little credit. If they want to live up to their commitment in the Queen's Speech, they should be working with EU partners to encourage the Union to move on from institutional issues to the wider world, and to follow the agenda of my right hon. Friends-globalisation, global warming and global development.
In each of those areas, the EU has a prominent role, where an active UK Government-I genuinely believe that my colleagues will form one in time-working in partnership with their neighbours, can make a significant contribution. On globalisation, the Lisbon agenda needs further stimulus and engagement. On global warming and global development, we need to create the advocacy fund, long championed by Conservative Members, to ensure that they poorest have the support that they need. We need to heed the warning about food and food sufficiency and reverse the declining trend of investment in agriculture, recognising that staple crop yields are flat, rather than rising, in many poor countries.
To conclude, what we needed in the Queen's Speech was not a list of unobtainable objectives through legislation, laudable though some of them were, but a straightforward valedictory telegram from the Government, telling other countries what they thought of them and announcing a general election to provide a mandate to a Government to come in to deal with the substantial problems, all of which we have heard about tonight. Only that election can give Parliament the clout that it needs to do the job that people want us to do.
9.5 pm
Anne Main (St. Albans) (Con): I should like to start with some words that the Government would rather were not heard. I say that because they have been expunged from a statement by Sergeant Castle and a report on the death of my constituent's son, Captain James Philippson. These are Sergeant Castle's exact words:
"This is-you are happy with my comments, are you?, because back Kandahar, before we deployed to Tombstone, I got given this big war pride speech off Colonel Knaggs and he said that we we'd be-you, we would not deploy on the ground unless we were fully ready to go with the equipment we require, we were going to be the-we are the main effort... Well, that was a lie. I personally got lied to by a Colonel, because that was for the whole time we were there we didn't get the equipment we asked for, there was not enough of it...it never arrived. And, sir, it was wrong. That's about it."
As I say, those words have been expunged.
My constituent, Captain James Philippson, was the first soldier to be killed in action in battle, trying to rescue Sergeant Castle, whose words those were, when UK forces moved into the Taliban stronghold of Helmand. He died on 11 June 2006, while serving as part of a quick reaction force called out from Camp Bastion to rescue an injured comrade-someone who had been pinned down for over eight hours and whose patrol had been ambushed and was under sustained and heavy
attack in Sangin. Before reaching their comrades, the rapid reaction unit was also ambushed, and during that attack, Captain Philippson sadly lost his life.
An Army board of inquiry was subsequently convened to investigate the circumstances surrounding Captain Philippson's death, but it was not conducted correctly. However, crucially, the first Army board of inquiry uncovered issues surrounding equipment levels, such as those referred to by Sergeant Castle, in the quick reaction force that deployed, and it laid some of the blame-wrongly, as we now know-at the door of Captain Philippson's commanding officer, Major Bristow.
An inquest into Captain Philippson's death was held on 15 February 2008. Following the inquest, Andrew Walker, assistant coroner for Oxfordshire, gave a verdict that
"they"-
brave soldiers, fighting for us-
"were defeated not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment."
"To send soldiers into a combat zone without basic equipment is unforgivable, inexcusable and a breach of trust between the soldiers and those who govern them."
Speaking to Radio 4 after the coroner's verdict, the Secretary of State for Defence, then the Minister for the Armed Forces, the right hon. Member for Coventry, North-East (Mr. Ainsworth), who is in his place, continued to stick to the line in the first Army board of inquiry-the flawed one-that
"Captain Philippson was killed as a result of poor tactical decision-making, a lack of Standard Operating Procedures and a lack of equipment".
Captain Philippson's family saw that as an attempt to lay the blame with the patrol commander, Major Bristow, despite the coroner's findings that the criticisms were not founded against Major Bristow and therefore not contributory to their son's death.
Captain Philippson's father, Tony, to whom I pay tribute for his dignity and strength in his fight to get to the bottom of this, and I met the Secretary of State on 18 March 2008, to seek an apology for his comments, which implicated Major Bristow and which, Tony felt,
"insulted the honour and integrity of the patrol commander, the regiment and [his] son's memory".
Following the meeting on 18 March, the Secretary of State refused to retract his comments, but in letters that followed he said that the Army may look into the production of its report and its apparent procedural error in failing to allow Major Bristow, Captain Philippson's commanding officer, a proper hearing under rule 11 of the Army board of inquiry rules. I have to say that it was like pulling teeth that day, sitting there, trying to press our case.
In a statement to the Press Association, an MOD spokesman said that this did not constitute a new board of inquiry or a reopening of the previous one. Despite that, in June 2008, the Secretary of State wrote to me to confirm that a second Army board of inquiry would be convened to examine the case, as the Army had identified some procedural errors in the conduct of the original investigation. He confirmed:
"These include the fact that, as I confirmed in my last letter, Major Bristow was not made a 'Rule 11' witness during the original BOI".
"Given the procedural errors identified, the Army has decided to convene a new BOI to re-investigate the events prior to, and the circumstances surrounding, the death of Captain Philippson".
It was a huge battle to get to that stage.
The Secretary of State had relied heavily on the original board of inquiry report to cast doubt on the coroner's comments about his Department's responsibility for Captain Philippson's death through a lack of equipment. He effectively allowed the reputation of Major Bristow to be dragged through the mud, and gave himself a convenient hook on which to hang his failings over lack of equipment.
The report of the second board of inquiry was published last week, and rightly absolved Major Bristow of any responsibility for the incident, stating:
"It is the panel's view that the command and control of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team was not a contributory factor in the death of Captain Philippson".
I would like to point out quote J, in the anonymised version of the report, which said:
"The events of the night of 11 June 06 reflect considerable credit on those involved, especially"
"who showed both tenacity and courage in persisting with his intent."
"On 10th June 2006, Major Mackay highlighted a shortfall of firepower and night vision equipment during a presentation to the Commander International Security and Assistance Force. Major Bristow also submitted a number of requests for equipment in his Situation Reports. For example, in his report of 8th June 2006 he stated that night vision equipment was 'urgently required'; and that his main concern was 'extant Operational Mentoring And Liaison Team TEAM mission critical equipment'. He had not received any enhancements as a result of these requests prior to 11th June 2006."
The panel agreed that it was clear that
"the Operational Mentoring And Liaison Team were under equipped to carry out offensive operations independently of other UK Forces and to adequately protect themselves...and this is reflected in Major Mackay's review of 2nd May 2006...in which additional equipment was requested.
The Panel is satisfied that requests for additional equipment were submitted by both Majors Mackay and Bristow. However, the Panel has not sought to examine in detail what the minimum scaling requirement should have been at the time of the incident, or what additional equipment would have been available to be allocated".
"The Quick Reaction Force did not have an infantry scaling of night vision equipment. Captain Jones estimates that they had one night vision device between four or five individuals."
The key issue is that, following Captain Philippson's death, Major Bristow made the decision to evacuate Captain Philippson's body and withdraw. The board of inquiry findings note that evacuation was challenging, arduous and dangerous, due to the weight of enemy fire. That necessitated pushing Captain Philippson's body through a narrow culvert, which could be done only after removing his body armour.
Those brave deeds, which were noted on the night, mean that the second board of inquiry has absolved Captain Philippson's commanding officer of any blame for the tragic incident in which he was killed by a bullet through the head. That smear on the reputation of
Major Bristow has been allowed remain for too long, and the Secretary of State has continued to use it to try to shift the blame away from the Ministry of Defence. I do not feel that that is acceptable behaviour, and I think the Secretary of State should today make a formal apology in public to Major Bristow, given the findings of the new board of inquiry.
Sadly, this is not the end of things. The final version of the report of the second Army board of inquiry had three small words inserted, compared with the draft that Tony Philippson had seen and agreed to. Those three words were "lack of equipment", and their insertion, which makes the report say that lack of equipment was not contributable, means that the matter is not at an end.
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Bob Ainsworth): If any impartial study were made of the first board of inquiry, the coroner's report, my actual comments and the subsequent service board of inquiry, it would find no evidence that I had ever tried to besmirch the reputation of Major Bristow in any way at all. I had no control over the original board of inquiry, or the subsequent service inquiry; they were controlled by the Army. It is right to say that they came to slightly different conclusions, but I have never attacked the reputation of a serving officer, although the hon. Lady tries repeatedly to say that I did. She really should not try to suggest that I did.
Anne Main: I thank the Secretary of State for that intervention. Given his comments on the first Army board of inquiry, and the complete about-turn and the subsequent statement that Major Bristow is in no way responsible for the death of Captain James Philippson, I am sure that the Secretary of State will today take the opportunity to issue an apology to Major Bristow for any inadvertent slur-if it is inadvertent-on a serving officer. [Interruption.]
Anne Main: I am pleased that Major Bristow has been removed from desk duty, and is now in Baghdad, doing exactly what he wanted to do as a serving soldier. I shall conclude my remarks, as I am aware that other Members would like to speak, and I would very much like to hear what the Secretary of State has to say.
9.16 pm
Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield) (Con): I am delighted to be called to speak, albeit at the tail end in what has been an excellent debate. There have been some outstanding speeches; the exchange between my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kensington and Chelsea (Sir Malcolm Rifkind) and the right hon. Member for Pontypridd (Dr. Howells), a former Labour Minister, highlights the sort of genuine debate that can, from time to time, take place in this Chamber.
People in the House would expect me to seek to raise the matter of Zimbabwe, and I shall not disappoint them; I intend to raise that very issue. Today, I got an e-mail from friends in Zimbabwe entitled "What will Santa bring Zimbabwe?" I fear that it will not be a very happy or prosperous Christmas there. From all the information that I receive from Zimbabwe, it seems that a sense of uncertainty and foreboding is spreading, after a period of some progress.
That progress, of course, began with the formation of the unity Government, when the Movement for Democratic Change and Morgan Tsvangirai joined ZANU-PF in government, and Morgan Tsvangirai bravely became the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. Whatever the truth of the situation in Zimbabwe, the community fears a return to the situation that prevailed in 2008. Businessmen fear that they will wake up one morning and find their hard currency accounts converted to a new local currency that is basically worthless, at a rate set by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. They fear the imposition of restrictions on prices, and a return to the harsh regime of the recent past.
Of course, the progress took place because of the entry of the MDC into government, and because the Finance Minister, Mr. Tendai Biti, worked remarkably hard; he is an outstandingly able man, and he has started to put the economy of Zimbabwe back on the rails. However, because of what is happening, the slow recovery in the banking system has evaporated. A run on the banks has put severe strain on cash flows, and that is not helped by the information that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been misappropriating the reserves of the commercial banks. People are suddenly reverting to a strictly cash system.
Furthermore, the revelation that the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment has clandestinely drafted new regulations that would expropriate, without compensation, 51 per cent. of the shareholdings of all foreign firms with a capital value of more than $500,000 has simply halted foreign development investment activity. Firms that have already invested in Zimbabwe have frozen their operations in that country, and those thinking about new investments have stopped all preparation and plans. That is the situation in Zimbabwe.
I quote briefly from an excellent editorial in The Times entitled "Mugabe's Lies". It says that Mr. Tsvangirai should be told that there will be no large-scale western help for his long-suffering people unless his power-sharing Government with the MDC-that is important to emphasise-halt police repression, curb the violence of Mr. Mugabe's "veterans", and ends the judicial hounding of Opposition leaders such as Roy Bennett, who is currently being tried for treason on utterly trumped-up charges. Mr. Tsvangirai, sadly, may be unable to deliver that message to a rather embattled President Mugabe, in which case, I believe, it is time that Mr. Tsvangirai and the MDC left the Government and enabled Mr. Mugabe to govern on his own.
However, there is a figure not very far away from Zimbabwe in South Africa. I refer, of course, to President Jacob Zuma, who has a far easier task in influencing Mr. Mugabe. With an estimated 3 million Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa, he has, as the leader of his country, a pressing need to end the violence and repression north of his border. He promised while campaigning for the presidency to take a much tougher line than former President Mbeki. It is now time-this is the advice that I hope he may take-to unplug the power, turn off the fuel lines and force a change in Harare. That is the only way in which change will be brought about.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |