Foreign and defence affairs lead several papers today, including picture spreads from yesterday’s Trooping of the Colour.
HMS Bulwark
The Sunday Express incorrectly reported this morning that HMS Bulwark had broken down in the Mediterranean and was forced to ‘pause’ its operations to undergo urgent repairs. This is untrue. HMS Bulwark is in port in Malta for routine maintenance this week as a scheduled part of her operational cycle. The ship remains fully mission capable and will resume her tasking as planned next week.
In the same article it was reported that there are calls within the MOD for HMS Ocean to be sent to the Mediterranean to replace HMS Bulwark on the search and rescue mission. Our position on that is here:
HMS Bulwark has been involved in saving several thousand lives in the Mediterranean on her current task. A range of future options are under consideration as work continues towards the wider political solution to the migration crisis.
HMS Bulwark has rescued over 2,900 migrants since deploying last month and just last week she conducted her largest rescue to date.
Defence in the world
In the Sunday Telegraph, a news article suggesting that Britain’s military might has been rendered ‘feeble’ in the face of global threats. Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh, Admiral Lord Boyce, Field Marshal Lord Walker and Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Squire say that conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have sapped public support for extensive military campaigns and criticise the fact that defence spending is not ring-fenced.
The paper also includes a comment piece by former First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh, who writes that there are “disquieting parallels” between Britain's unwillingness to arm itself now and 90 years ago when it failed to address the growing threat from Hitler. He calls for the forthcoming strategic defence review to result in a budget to “provide for rebuilding our forces to adequate levels and, along the way, set an example to many of our allies where similarly blind eyes have been turned to the consequences of declining military strength".
Our position is as follows.
With the second largest defence budget in NATO and the largest in the EU, the Government is committed to spending 2% of GDP on defence this financial year. Over the next decade we are committed to spending £163 billion on equipment and equipment support to keep Britain safe and right now we are deployed around the world on more than 20 operations. We’ve committed an extra 125 troops to train Iraqi forces in addition to contributing air strikes and specialised surveillance against ISIL and boosted our NATO high readiness taskforce commitment to 3,000 people. Whether rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean or tackling Ebola in Sierra Leone, UK personnel continue to play a crucial global role.
MOD manning
Today’s Sun on Sunday has published an article criticising what it describes as 1,900 new cuts to Royal Navy and RAF personnel over the next five years. The article says ministers have drawn up plans to reduce the regular forces.
What the article does not point out is that the figures, published on Hansard in response to recent Parliamentary Questions from Kevan Jones MP, are not new cuts but are in fact updates on progress made towards manning targets set after the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).
An MOD spokesperson said:
These figures show that the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force are on track to achieve manning levels for 2020 as set out in the 2010 Defence Review. There are no plans to reduce the size of the regular Armed Forces. Britain’s armed forces are world class and with the biggest defence budget in Europe we continue to meet our commitments, whether that’s sending an extra 125 troops to train Iraqi forces or boosting our NATO high readiness taskforce commitment to 3,000 people.
The Sunday Express reports that Britain’s allies in NATO would ‘not be fooled’ by ‘lumping foreign aid’ into the defence budget, a former NATO Secretary General has said. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, responding to the Defence Secretary’s suggestion at Defence Questions, said: “I’m in favour of some of the overseas aid budget being transferred to the MOD but including the foreign aid budget in defence spending is just sleight of hand.”
Falklands medal
The Sun on Sunday quotes Defence Secretary Michael Fallon’s praise for the Falkland Islanders, who will receive a military medal from the Prime Minister after 33 years. Locals helped moved ammunition and kit from San Carlos to mountains around Port Stanley during the 1982 campaign. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “Had it not been for their courage, we could not have secured a hard-won victory.”
Brecon Beacon’s inquest
The Mail on Sunday reports on the incident at the inquest where military officials searched court room waste bins to find highly classified documents about UK Special Forces. The MOD’s legal counsel Jonathan Hall QC apologised to coroner Louise Hunt, but insisted: “It had to do with a security arrangement. We’re dealing with documents at a very high classification. The search was in order to secure those documents but it was done in a way that was not correct. I do want to reassure you publicly that this was not a sinister development.”
Army compensation
The Daily Star Sunday reports that the Army is clamping down on a compensation culture after 21,000 of 52,000 claims since 2005 were rejected. The paper reports that last year four out of every ten claims made by troops were ‘thrown out’ by the Ministry of Defence.
There are a number of reasons why we may reject claims and all decisions carry the right of appeal in an independent tribunal.
An MOD spokesperson said:
Our Armed Forces do a challenging and sometimes dangerous job and it is vital that those injured or bereaved by service receive the compensation they deserve. We encourage personnel who have suffered an injury or illness to submit a claim but we also have an obligation to safeguard taxpayers’ money and will reject applications where there is insufficient evidence of a service cause.
Army Service Inquiry
The Sunday Times reports on the suspected suicides of two Afghanistan veterans at an isolated army barracks in Northern Ireland. It is reported that the army launched an inquiry following the deaths of Lance Corporal James Ross, 30, in December 2012 and Rifleman Darren Mitchell, 20, two months later.
An MOD spokesperson said:
Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of Lance Corporal James Ross and Rifleman Darren Mitchell.
“The purpose of a Service Inquiry is to look at the circumstances of an incident so that we can learn any lessons and try to prevent similar events happening again. An inquest into their deaths is due to be heard and the Ministry of Defence will of course continue to cooperate fully with the Coroner.
Bullying and sexual harassment
Sunday People report that the MOD has launched more than 240 probes into alleged sex attacks, and 470 claims of bullying and harassment in the Armed Forces in past five years.
The Armed Forces take any allegation of abuse extremely seriously. Any suspicion of bullying, sexual harassment or abuse will be dealt with immediately and any allegation of a criminal nature is handed to the police.
The Armed Forces strives to ensure, through training and awareness campaigns, that personnel can work in an environment which is free from discrimination, and they know how to report any inappropriate behaviour.
Personnel found to be guilty of inappropriate behaviour will be dealt with appropriately which can include being discharged from the service.
There are extensive support systems in place for those who feel they have been bullied, consisting of Equality and Diversity champions and advisors, Unit Welfare Officers, Padres and the Speak Out Helpline.
In addition, the Army is committed to implementing a range of actions to address the issues of sexual harassment and sexual assault. These include an extensive training programme to educate personnel on what is and is not acceptable behaviour in a modern, professional Army in 2015.
Images by SAC Lee Matthews
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