Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence

Oral Answers to Questions

Leo Docherty Excerpts
Monday 20th May 2019

(4 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Tobias Ellwood Portrait Mr Ellwood
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Every suicide is a tragedy, and the hon. Lady is absolutely right: we need to better understand the numbers that are coming through. I am pleased to say that those who join the armed forces are less likely to consider suicide and to be affected by mental health issues and drug issues and so forth, but if someone goes down that road—if they are affected by those issues—help must be available, and that comes with understanding the situation. We are working with Manchester University to better understand the statistics, and I will also be speaking to Justice Ministers to see how we can get the numbers from coroners, match them with our databases and see for sure the exact background of those who have taken their lives.

Leo Docherty Portrait Leo Docherty (Aldershot) (Con)
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Will the Secretary of State join me in thanking the men and women of the King’s Royal Hussars battle group in Estonia for the terrific work they are doing in reassuring our NATO allies of our full commitment to the NATO alliance?

Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton Portrait Mark Lancaster
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I had the enormous pleasure of visiting that battle group only last week in Estonia and was tremendously impressed not least by the way it is demonstrating our interoperability with our NATO allies.