Extracts from Westminster
Hall debate on Immunity for Soldiers
(Plymouth, Moor View)
(Con):...I want to express why I and may others feel so
angry about this. There are many burning injustices in this place,
but we have been here before. The greatest worry is that this will
never end. It will be a problem not just for this Government but
for the Government who replace them, these veterans and veterans of
the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan, until a
Government or a Prime Minister decides to show just one quarter of
the courage that we asked our men and women to show daily in those
conflicts. I do not want to overdo it, but it is pure cowardice for
someone to say they are on the side of those who served—the bravest
of the brave—and give a conference speech to rapturous applause,
and in private to say the complete opposite. I urge colleagues to
stand with me in doing everything we can. This is not a game; the
nation and how we defend ourselves is at stake. I pay tribute to
those who served out there and gave such inspiring speeches today.
There is no more to be said on this subject, but there is a hell of
a lot to be done. That is what people like me are looking
for...
(Wells) (Con):...The
legal premise on which my former comrades served in Northern
Ireland is not their fault. The failings of any investigation that
happened at the time is not their fault. Conversely, the quality of
the investigations at the time, which allows vexatious politicians
and lawyers to pore over the detail and challenge it decades later,
is not their fault. The political situation in Northern Ireland is
not their fault. The fact that they pulled the trigger in Northern
Ireland rather than in the Falklands, the Balkans, Iraq or
Afghanistan is not their fault. The fact that the Government have
not yet done anything about this is also not their fault...
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Extract from Defence
Questions: UK-Saudi Arabia Joint Military Exercises
(Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
(Lab): I welcome the Secretary of State to her place and
echo her comments about Guardsman Mathew Talbot—all our thoughts
are with his family at this sad time.
One reason why Labour opposes any future joint exercises with
Saudi Arabia is what Amnesty International calls the “widespread”
and “common” use of torture in the kingdom. As we have heard,
today’s Times newspaper reveals that the MOD is willing to share
intelligence with states like Saudi Arabia, where there is a real
risk of torture, provided that
“the potential benefits justify accepting the risk and the legal
consequences”.
Will the Secretary of State clarify the Government’s position
urgently and state categorically that the MOD is opposed to
torture in all circumstances?
The Secretary of State for Defence (Penny
Mordaunt): I am happy to give the hon. Gentleman that
reassurance. I will go into more detail on the matter when I
respond to the urgent question later, but that is the
Government’s policy. The hon. Gentleman is wrong about our
training with Saudi Arabia, just as the leader of the Labour
party has been wrong on the Falklands, on Sierra Leone, on Syria,
on Kosovo, on Russia and on Crimea, and wrong about Hamas,
Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and the IRA. That is why decisions about
national security should remain with a Conservative Government.
