Contributions
1,690 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)I am not bad, actually. I am just trying to be helpful and to improve the Bill, but the Minister seems determined to push it through unamended. He might not like it, but this is…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)The Minister has referred to who he consulted when drawing the Bill. Can he expand on their comments, and is it possible to produce them as evidence for the Committee?14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)New clause 1 states: “The principle referred to in section 1(1) is that a relevant prosecutor makes a decision to which that section applies may determine that proceedings should…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Clause 2 is quite an important part of the Bill. I am sorry that the Minister did not allow me to ask him about his investigation point, because it has an impact on this clause.…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Will the Minister give way?14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Will the Minister give way?14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Will the Minister give way?14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Will the Minister give way?14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)The hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West made the point, in respect of the lack of training, that the real pressure is not on the chain of command but on the men and women in…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Is not an obvious way of doing that to adopt the new clause I spoke to, which would give judicial oversight?14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)I agree with Judge Blackett and General Nick Parker. What the Government have done is looked at the prosecution end of it, rather than at the investigation end of it. As I have…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)I am not being personal, but a Minister usually does more than read what is in front of him; he takes notes and engages. My proposals should be looked at seriously, because they…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Yes, I remember that case—it was awful, if you read the background to it. The Bill is basically saying, “We are going to do something different from what we expect of other…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)It is the process. I am glad that the hon. Member has mentioned the case of Marine A, because the way it was dealt with worries me. People might not be familiar with it. It was an…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Well it could, but I am a defender of the service justice system, because I think it is unique. There are those who want to abolish the service justice system, who ask, “Why…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Yes. That is the problem. How do we get at it? Is it about a lack of resource? I think it is. Going back to Iraq and Afghanistan, as I said this morning, there was huge pressure…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)One of the important things about the process is that we have judicial oversight of whatever happens. That is important for making the system robust and fair, both for those…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Sixth sitting)Yes, and in a moment or two I will cover the important point that my hon. Friend raises. It is about efficiency in dealing with claims through an early process, so that when the…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fifth sitting)I agree. The impression that I think some people try to give of the armed forces is that the armed forces, which have a job to go and do, want to be above the law. Nothing could…14 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fifth sitting)I am sorry, Mr Stringer. I was going down memory lane to happier times. Just to finish that point, the welfare pathway, which the Government who came to power in 2010 rightly…14 Oct 2020