Oral Answers to Questions

Gemma Doyle Excerpts

Monday 4th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

As has already been said, a lot of what is on the international shelves is made in Britain, but the Ministry of Defence’s primary purpose is to ensure that our armed forces have the right equipment when they need it at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer.

[Gemma Doyle (West Dunbartonshire) (Lab/Co-op)]

The creation of the office of the chief coroner would make a significant difference to the families of fallen service people as they go through the very difficult inquest process. The Royal British Legion believes this is a matter of priority, not of cost. When will the Secretary of State stop passing the buck to his colleagues in the Justice Department and make this one of his priorities?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Andrew Robathan)]

As you will understand, Mr Speaker, this is not a question of passing the buck: the Ministry of Justice is responsible for the coroners department. This has been the subject of much consultation, and the MOJ must answer on it. [Interruption.] The right hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Mr Murphy) asks what it is doing: it is ensuring that coroners are better trained, as training was the problem beforehand.