Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the names and firms of all lawyers involved in pursuing claims against soldiers and former soldiers for alleged abuses in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
It would not be appropriate to provide the names of individual lawyers acting on behalf of claimants. However, it is a matter of public record that the vast majority of claims alleging abuses by British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq have been brought by Leigh Day Solicitors and Public Interest Lawyers Ltd (PIL) law firms. PIL closed earlier this year after the Ministry of Defence triggered an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the names of all the investigators who have been recruited to investigate alleged abuses by soldiers and former soldiers whilst serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
It is our policy that the names of individuals below Senior Civil Service level are withheld under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act. All investigators who have been recruited to investigate alleged abuses by soldiers and former soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq are below this level.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 2 November (HL2682), in what way they consider that the tweet may have been misinterpreted; and why the Department did not issue an explanation at the time of the tweet's removal in order to ensure public understanding that they did not consider those types of photographs to be racist.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Some media reporting and public comments suggested that the picture together with the tag line was racist. In the answer I gave on 2 November 2016 to Question HL2682, it was acknowledged that this could have been open to misinterpretation. This is because such things are a matter of judgement and personal perception. Officials therefore decided that it should be removed, and an apology was issued for any offence which may have been caused.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the deletion from Twitter by the Ministry of Defence of an Army photograph showing a soldier wearing black camouflage cream, what assessment they have made of the extent to which such photographs are racist.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The tweet from 19 October included a photograph of a soldier from the Irish Guards practising camouflage and concealment measures during standard jungle training in Belize. We do not consider these types of photographs to be racist.
We can see, however, how the tweet consisting of both the photograph and caption may have been misinterpreted. It was immediately removed, and the Department subsequently released an apology for any offence that may have been caused.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 September (HL1842), whether any of the soldiers who fought in Musa Qala in 2006 were considered for medals within the timescale of the five-year rule.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence does not retain unsuccessful recommendations for Military Honours and Awards. It is, therefore, not possible to ascertain whether any Service personnel who fought in Musa Qala in 2006 were recommended for an award outside of the five-year rule.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are planning to take to honour the British soldiers who fought in Musa Qala in Afghanistan in the autumn of 2006.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Service in Afghanistan is recognised by the Operational Service Medal. All those who deployed to Afghanistan will have been eligible to receive the medal if they met the qualifying criteria. There is a long-standing rule that decisions taken with regards to medallic recognition should not be revisited once five years have passed since the conclusion of a military operation. The 'five year' rule has been looked at by the Committee on the Grants of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) on a number of occasions, and on each occasion it has concluded that the rule is sound and should not be changed.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to putting in place immediate arrangements for members of the armed forces to be trained in train driving, operating and management.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Defence has no current plans in place to provide training in train driving, operating or management.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in conjunction with UK allies, they plan to increase the level of military activity against British jihadis fighting for ISIL in Iraq and Syria; and whether their objective is to kill such individuals on the battlefield before they return to the UK as potential terrorists.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
UK military action in Syria and Iraq is against Daesh targets, regardless of nationality, as December's Parliamentary motion made clear. As part of the global coalition, the UK is making a substantial air contribution to the campaign to defeat Daesh in both countries and providing training to Iraqi (including Kurdish) security forces taking the fight to Daesh on the ground. The Secretary of State for Defence (Michael Fallon) announced in June that we would deploy up to 250 personnel to the Al Asad Air Base in Iraq to increase our training contribution.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance the MoD will give to serving and ex-service personnel to sue Public Interest Lawyers and their individual partners for the stress caused by pursuing compensation claims.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Although we are deeply concerned about the stress which can be caused to members of the Armed Forces by false allegations, we are not aware of any legal actions of the kind referred to. We welcome the decision of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to call members of Public Interest Lawyers, which has now closed, to account for their conduct while pursuing allegations against members of the Armed Forces.