Contributions
394 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (First sitting)Q Thank you, Chair—it is an honour to serve on the Committee. Ms Meredith, you have mentioned what you think is wrong in the Bill. Obviously, we are looking to protect serving…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (First sitting)Q What about from the point of knowledge? Hilary Meredith: In civilian cases, with the date of knowledge of, for example, of PTSD, you may consider that there is something wrong…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (First sitting)Q Thank you, Major Campbell. It is an absolute disgrace that you have had to go through everything that you have. It is horrible to hear, but we need to learn lessons from this…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (First sitting)Q Just a follow-up. We had the Second Reading of the Bill in Parliament a few weeks ago. I am not sure whether you saw that; it was a very interesting debate. There were a lot of…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (First sitting)Thank you for your comments, and thank you again for your service.06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q Do you think the Bill will have a positive impact and protect armed forces personnel who serve on overseas operations? I will ask Mr Larkin first. John Larkin: I possess no…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Mr Ekins? Professor Ekins: I suppose the best case one can make for the positive benefit of the Bill is that it may provide some assurance to personnel. If no application has been…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)I should have referred to as “professor”—sorry, I did not want you to feel left out. Doctor Morgan? Dr Morgan: The answer is, up to a point. It really depends on what kind of…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q Mr Larkin, you did touch on it, but do any of you believe that the Bill provides a blanket amnesty in any way, shape or form for armed forces personnel? John Larkin: I have…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q When we have listened to evidence today we have heard from veterans and from legal representatives like yourself. There is a disparity between veterans, who really want this…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q We are where we are now, and we need to protect troops moving forward. They will be serving in our overseas operations this year, next year and so on. We can keep saying it does…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q If they are successful, what percentage is taken from the soldier’s claim, on average, for the solicitors? Ahmed Al- Nahhas : It depends on the terms offered by the lawyers.…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q I have a supplementary question about a no win, no fee where a young rifleman has a previous injury. If you or the other solicitors do not deem it to have a good chance of…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q How many cases have you turned down that have been over six years? Ahmed Al-Nahhas: I would say, on average, in my own practice, probably between 70% and 80% of inquiries that…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q Mr Baldwin, you said that the legislation could encourage soldiers to commit crime with impunity. Will you clarify that it is a piece of legislation that you think will then…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q That is the bit I want to challenge. Every soldier going on operations knows the rules of engagement and knows the law—what they can and cannot do. That will be crystal clear.…06 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you. Ms Spurrier, to continue on your point, you have raised quite a lot of things that you would like to take out of the Bill, which would leave pretty much nothing in…06 Oct 2020HANSARD Overseas Operations (Service Personnel And Veterans) BillI respect the right hon. Member and sit with him on the Defence Committee. We have mentioned a lot of names today, but none of them is below General. I have served on operations…23 Sept 2020HANSARD Overseas Operations (Service Personnel And Veterans) BillWill the hon. Lady give way?23 Sept 2020HANSARD Overseas Operations (Service Personnel And Veterans) BillLike me with the long beard, the Minister has long hair; we are leading the game in this House. I am new to this game. I have only been a politician since last year. As I said, I…23 Sept 2020