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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 06 Jul 2020
Oral Answers to Questions

"I rise as someone who has done seven tours in Northern Ireland and as a member of the Northern Ireland Veterans Association. The Prime Minister, on 23 July last year in the 1922 Committee, promised me that this matter would be a top priority for the Government. This promise was …..."
Bob Stewart - View Speech

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Written Question
Veterans: DNA
Tuesday 4th February 2020

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Conservative - Beckenham)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2020 to Question 6631, for what reasons his Department does not extract DNA from the remains of unidentified British soldiers found on former battlefields.

Answered by Johnny Mercer

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does extract DNA from the remains of some unidentified British soldiers found on former battlefields. Due to the cost of DNA extraction and processing, MOD only recover DNA from historic casualties where it has been possible to draw up a list of potential candidates from other evidence, such as artefacts found with the remains, and analysis of casualty and unit records. The list of potential candidates makes it feasible to carry out the subsequent genealogical research to identify possible next of kin. Only where that subsequent research reveals a potential donor with whom to compare the recovered sample, is DNA used as part of the identity confirmation process.

Written Question
Veterans: DNA
Tuesday 28th January 2020

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Conservative - Beckenham)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has (a) extracted DNA from the remains of unidentified British soldiers found on former battlefields and share (b) that DNA with ancestry companies to find matches with subscribers of those companies.

Answered by Johnny Mercer

The Ministry of Defence has not extracted DNA from fallen soldiers to share with ancestry companies.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 21 Oct 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

"What progress has the Army made towards getting female soldiers into frontline units such as rifle platoons in an infantry battalion?..."
Bob Stewart - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 14 Oct 2019
Battle of Arnhem: 75th Anniversary

"I thank the hon. and gallant Gentleman for giving way. He is fully aware, as I am, that five Victoria Crosses were awarded at Arnhem: two to members of the Parachute Regiment, one to a Royal Air Force officer, and two to members of my regiment, the South Staffords. A …..."
Bob Stewart - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 14 Oct 2019
Battle of Arnhem: 75th Anniversary

"The hon. and gallant Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) will agree with me on this point. Outside the Airborne Museum Hartenstein is probably the most poignant memorial of them all: a stone that thanks the people of Arnhem for their heroism and gallantry in looking after the people who …..."
Bob Stewart - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 08 Jul 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

"May I ask my right hon. Friend to ensure that, all these years later, someone in the Ministry of Defence checks on veterans from Northern Ireland who were grievously hurt there—such as Lance Corporal William Bell and Private Mark Young from my own company, when 17 people were killed—to make …..."
Bob Stewart - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 20 May 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

"When I was in the Saudi air operations centre recently, I spoke to Saudi pilots, who were a very impressive lot. I asked them about their rules of engagement. I looked at those rules and they looked remarkably similar to rules of engagement the Royal Air Force would use. Does …..."
Bob Stewart - View Speech

View all Bob Stewart (Con - Beckenham) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 10 Apr 2019
Continuous At-Sea Deterrent

"Quite a few colleagues in the House have served in the British Army of the Rhine—I served there three times. When we, as conventional forces, practised deploying against an enemy, we were much sustained by the knowledge that there was a nuclear back-up in our armoury. That raised our morale. …..."
Bob Stewart - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 10 Apr 2019
Continuous At-Sea Deterrent

"I thank my hon. Friend, as I will call her, for allowing me to intervene. Russia now practises using nuclear weapons on its exercises, so we ought to listen and watch what it says it will do, because my goodness, it will do that if it is pushed. That is …..."
Bob Stewart - View Speech

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