Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Jarvis Excerpts

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State believe that the utility of military force as an instrument of UK foreign policy is more relevant or less relevant than it was, say, 30 years ago, and how does he intend to reflect that in future UK defence policy?

[Mr Hammond]

That is a very deep but helpful question. The Government are clearly committed to integrating defence diplomacy with our wider diplomatic effort to ensure that the UK’s Government-wide objectives are best delivered through the use of all the assets available, including our defence assets, and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I will publish our strategy for defence engagement in the new year.

Armed Forces Personnel

Dan Jarvis Excerpts

Thursday 10th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

It is a privilege to take part in today’s debate, especially at a time when the whole of Britain and the Commonwealth is preparing to mark a weekend of remembrance in the most dignified and unique way, and, here at home, in a very British way. The great British sailor, soldier and airman are the very best in the world. Throughout our nation’s rich history, our armed forces have never let us down—generation after generation of excellence and endeavour, courage and commitment, dedication and delivery; never turning away, even in the darkest hour; always the first to stand between home and danger. It is right that Remembrance Sunday is a focal point for Britain and that the whole country pauses to remember.

[Mrs Moon]

Does my hon. Friend share with me a great sigh of relief that it has finally been agreed that those service personnel who were awarded the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal will be able to wear it this year and at last honour their colleagues who fell in the service of this country in Malaysia?

--- Later in debate ---

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her intervention, and I share her thoughts about that medal. I know from previous experience that the very subject of medals can be controversial, but in this case I absolutely share the sentiments that she has expressed.

As I prepare, for the first time since leaving the Army earlier this year, to mark Remembrance day in my Barnsley constituency tomorrow, I am reminded of Sergeant Andy McFarlane from the Adjutant General’s Corps, who wrote a poem while serving in Afghanistan in 2008. It begins:

“The news is spread far and wide

Another comrade has sadly died

A sunset vigil upon the sand

As a soldier leaves this foreign land”.

“Bravery” is a word that is all too often used, but rarely earned. Those words speak of our bravest men and women, who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country—not in pursuit of personal gain or individual glory; not without knowing the risks; not while surrounded by the comforts of home; but in a foreign land where danger and uncertainty are, in fact, the only certainty.

For me, this weekend—and this debate—is simple. It is about the families at home, with their loved ones serving overseas. It is about veterans who live on, carrying the scars, mental or physical. Most of all, it is about the fallen. For two minutes tomorrow Britain will stand united, shoulder to shoulder in remembrance. Tomorrow, I will be remembering all who have served our country, but in particular I will be remembering my own regiment, the Parachute Regiment. Among others, I will also be remembering the soldiers of the Yorkshire Regiment and the soldiers of the Light Dragoons.

I will be remembering the late Corporal Bryan Budd VC of the Parachute Regiment, and his family. I will be remembering the late Corporal Mark Wright GC of the Parachute Regiment, and his family. I will be remembering the late Barnsley-born Captain Martin Driver of the Royal Anglian Regiment, and his family. I will be remembering the late Major Matt Bacon of the Intelligence Corps, and his family. I will also be remembering the late Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe of the Welsh Guards, the highest-ranked fatality in Afghanistan, and his wife, Sally, who joined me and other colleagues in Parliament earlier this week. Tomorrow, I will also be remembering in particular the soldier from 4th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment who was killed in Afghanistan only yesterday. I am sure that I speak for right hon. and hon. Members across the House when I say that our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this most difficult time.

Every life is equally precious and should be equally remembered. For those of us who have had the great honour to serve, despite leading very busy lives, every day brings quiet moments of reflection and remembrance. For me, they happen in this place every single day as I am walking down the long Westminster corridors, in the lift on the way over to the Chamber, or sitting behind my desk late each evening. For us, it is not just about the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Every day, I find myself pausing to remember friends with whom I served, who never made it back to their loved ones. Every day, I find myself thinking about my own children, and about what might have been, had I not enjoyed the luck that I did. Every day, I am very grateful, and every day, I remember the families who will always be missing a mother or father, a husband or wife, a son or daughter.

I knew 10 of the first 100 men and women killed while serving in Iraq. At that point, I stopped counting. I felt that I had to. Despite what many believe about the wars and their implications for global security, for international legitimacy and for the nature of UK-American relations, no one should doubt that those who have fallen were among our very best and our very bravest. They are at the heart of all that is still great about Britain today.

I believe, however, that we must strive to do better as politicians in shaping the debate about defence, to ensure that the forces community receives the support that it needs and deserves.

[Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is moving on to the point that we need to do more for those who have not adjusted as well as he has after coming out of the Army. I have seen many people not only with physical injuries but with the kind of mental scars that often do not appear until many years later.

[Dan Jarvis]

My hon. Friend makes a useful point, which has already been highlighted by other Members in the debate. The reality is that those people who have served in the most difficult circumstances in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere often do not present symptoms from those experiences until many years after the conflict has finished. It is therefore incredibly important that we, as a society, as politicians and as a Government, keep a close eye on those people.

We must remember the last 10 years in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, contentious though they have no doubt been. Support from the Government, in Parliament and across the UK for our veterans and their families must always be unequivocal. We must remember the value of charities such as the Royal British Legion, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, Help for Heroes and many others, all of whom contribute so much. For more than 90 years, the Royal British Legion has been a constant, a continuing pillar of strength for those who have served and for their families. I believe that its call, which was shared by many others, to leave the chief coroner out of the Public Bodies Bill was the right thing to do for our armed forces and their families. We should have listened to the legion when it made that important point.

We must also remember that, when the shots stop firing and the last bomb has detonated, our support for our forces must be absolute and unending. When Afghanistan and Iraq are consigned to the history books, our armed forces’ physical injuries and mental recollections of those wars will live on for ever.

Our veterans deserve not adequate, not better, but the best support. On Friday, a veteran and his wife, Mark and Helen Mullins, were found dead, having killed themselves in despair. We must not forget those who served but now struggle, those who fought but now feel forgotten, those who stood-to but now stand alone. We, on all sides of this House, have a duty to protect our armed forces and to ensure that public support for them endures.

I quoted earlier from Sergeant McFarlane’s poem, which concludes:

“Reveille sounds and the parade is done

The hero remembered, forgotten by none

They leave to start the journey back

In a coffin draped in the Union Jack”.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the fallen. We must not forget and we must always remember. I know that I am enormously proud to have been in our armed forces for 15 years. I know that this House is enormously proud of our armed forces. I know, too, that this weekend, our country will demonstrate our pride in the best armed forces in the world.

Defence Transformation

Dan Jarvis Excerpts

Monday 18th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

I cannot make a specific case regarding any one Territorial unit, but I can say that the money we are announcing today, which is unprecedented in terms of the reserves and which reverses a decline of recent years, will be welcomed in all parts of the TA. We will of course be looking at the best way of spending that money, and I guess from my hon. Friend’s intervention that he will be making one of the early bids in that process.

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

The statement referred to what was described as a “progressive adjustment of the regular-reserve balance” of the Army. By my maths, that equates to a reduction in the regular Army of 17,000. This is very surprising to me because just two weeks ago I asked the Secretary of State what plans he had to reduce the size of the Army post-2015, to which he replied:

“Nothing has changed in our assumptions since the strategic defence and security review.”—[Official Report, 4 July 2011; Vol. 530, c. 1222.]

Can he therefore tell the House when exactly the assumptions changed and why?

[Dr Fox]

Again, the hon. Gentleman misses the point. What we are talking about is the deployability of the Army. I want to see the reserves increased so that they can be more deployable. We have such a low level of deployability at present—about 14,000—and I want the numbers to be built up so that the deployable level of the Army is maintained. Perhaps he should look at the experiences of other countries and ask why they are able to have a regular-reserve balance that is quite different from the United Kingdom’s and yet maintain their deployability.

Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Jarvis Excerpts

Monday 4th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (Nick Harvey)]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend about the excellent work done by our reserve forces. I have been thoroughly impressed with the commitment and skill that they have shown when I have met them, including in Afghanistan. As he knows, a review is being led by the Vice-Chief of the Defence staff and my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury (Mr Brazier), and their report is in the process of being finalised. I expect them to deliver that report shortly and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm whether he has any plans to reduce the size of the Army post-2015?

[Dr Fox]

Nothing has changed in our assumptions since the strategic defence and security review.

Defence Reform

Dan Jarvis Excerpts

Monday 27th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

We have already put in place some of the recommendations, including the defence board, and we have begun implementing some of the other changes. We have put into place the major projects board, which will give greater accountability in terms of the running of the major projects. As for Libya, I repeat the point that I made earlier. While we will constantly look at the resources available, the public message must be simply that we understand the mission that we are undertaking, its legality and its moral force, and we have the political will and military wherewithal to see it through.

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

I welcome many of the proposals in the report, but should not the reorganisations announced today and the forthcoming review of reserve forces have been conducted in parallel with the SDSR? This combined with the Arab spring means that the case for a new chapter is overwhelming. Does the Secretary of State agree that the world has moved on and that defence policy and resources should move with it?

[Dr Fox]

The VCDS leads the reserves review and was a key member of the steering group, so there is no lack of continuity. The hon. Gentleman asked why these things were not done at the time. We had to complete the SDSR because the comprehensive spending review was running at the same time, and because we had to deal with the huge deficit left by the previous Government. I know that the Labour Benches remain populated by deficit-deniers, but that does not reduce the responsibility on the Government to deal with the problem.

Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Jarvis Excerpts

Monday 16th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

T2. Does the Secretary of State agree with the Prime Minister that legislation that protects reservists’ employment is red tape, or does he agree with me that scrapping it would jeopardise recruitment and morale? Will he therefore guarantee to protect it?

[Dr Fox]

I am very grateful to be able to welcome the hon. Gentleman to the House personally, and I look forward to the expertise that he will bring to Defence questions. He will be aware that we are undertaking a very detailed review of reservists, not just the number and structure of the reserves, but the framework within which they operate, including for example the issues relating to employment, so that this country can make proper use of our reserves and maximise the benefit that they can bring to the armed forces, as happens already in many other countries.