Spending on defence over the last 12 years has not matched the demands made on our armed forces, and the equipment programme is underfunded by nearly £35 billion, writes Antonia Cox in More bang for the buck: how we can get better value from the defence budget, published on Monday 1 February by the Centre for Policy Studies.

Both major parties are committed to a Strategic Defence Review following the general election. But Antonia Cox argues that besides the hard choices to be made in an SDR, the MoD must show that it has learned the lessons of past failures in military procurement and that we can get better value from our equipment budget. ...

The public wants to see service personnel to be properly equipped. That is more important than local industrial considerations. The good news is that by learning the lessons of previous failures in defence procurement, it should be possible to deliver more for less.

• Centre for Policy Studies: More bang for the buck
• More bang for the buck (PDF report)

The Sun reports that volunteer members of the armed forces will be working as security staff at the London Olympics. It appears that, in a similar arrangement as that for forces personnel assisting at Wimbledon, they will be paid by the MoD as normal during the period of duty. Supposedly, one difference from Wimbledon is that they would be wearing civilian security staff uniform. From the newspaper:

Following similar initiatives in some other parts of the UK, The Scotsman reports that veterans who were injured while serving their country will now receive free bus travel as part of a package of pledges aimed at making Scotland "fairer".

This week is the start of Ramadan, the most holy month in the Muslim calendar. Throughout the month, Muslims are required to fast from sunrise to sunset. The only Muslim Chaplain to the Armed Forces explains how Muslim service personnel cope.  BritishForcesNews reports (05 Aug).

The Cabinet Office today issued the list of proposed reforms to the Government's Public Bodies, or quangos. The following MoD-sponsored bodies listed below are all slated for retention. BAFF particularly welcomes the retention of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB).

A critical report by the House of Commons Defence Committee, published today (Sunday), questions the coalition government's plan to remove troops by 2015, saying such a decision should be based on circumstances, not artificial deadlines. And it says the shortfall in troop numbers and the poor state of equipment they were given on deployment in Helmand in 2006 was "unacceptable". BAFF comment:

But this is not an argument that can or should be left to the military chiefs or the boffins. In the end it is also about the kind of British military effort that fits with the kind of nation we want to be. It is a debate that should be at the heart of the general election campaign too.

From a Guardian Editorial, 19 January 2010

And from Thomas Harding in The Daily Telegraph: Whitehall's civil war will decide our place in the world.

In its final issue after 168 years, the News of the World reports that HMS Liverpool has made the Royal Navy's first use of main armament gunnery since the Falklands Campaign:

The Sunday Mirror has a controversial interview with a serving warrant officer who received devastating injuries on IED disposal duty in Afghanistan:

The Chairman of the Baha Mousa Inquiry has announced that he intends to publish his report on 8 September 2011. The Sunday Telegraph says that the three-year inquiry into how Mr Baha Mousa died while in British custody in Iraq "will clear the Army of operating a systematic regime of torture". There is no room for complacency, because according to the newspaper, the inquiry will instead criticise individual soldiers and failings in the chain of command which led to his mistreatment:

Sir John Chilcot, Chairman of the Iraq Inquiry, has issued an open invitation to UK military personnel who served in Iraq between 2003 and 2009 to attend an event at Tidworth Garrison on 14 September. Alternatively, views in writing are also welcome.

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), which was introduced and subsequently reviewed under the previous Labour Government, treats the most seriously wounded personnel more generously than the War Pensions scheme which preceded it. BAFF members who had suffered serious but not catastrophic injuries told us that their claims have been settled promptly and satisfactorily under AFCS. Yet the scheme remains controversial. The Sunday Mirror reports that:

The widow of a REME soldier killed in Afghanistan in 2008 has accused the Government of breaking its promise to British troops.

The Sunday Telegraph's Defence and Security Correspondent writes that allowances paid to thousands of members of the armed forces are to be slashed by hundreds of millions of pounds.

Portsmouth News reports that the ban on women serving in Royal Navy submarines is "set to be lifted" after medical experts told the Ministry of Defence that female sailors face no greater hazard on boats than their male colleagues. This news is in line with earlier predictions. The News' story continues:

(Daily Mail 09 Feb 2011).  David Cameron was accused yesterday of breaking his promise over the military covenant — the state's responsibility to its Armed Forces:

One of Britain's oldest military flying units, 201 Squadron Royal Air Force, will be marching for the last time on Guernsey's Liberation Day, 9 May 2011.

A Polish pilot who led his squadron into battle from RAF Northolt has been reunited at the airbase with the same Spitfire he flew 67 years ago.

Footnote: BAFF highly values its friendly links with today's Polish Armed Forces personnel through Konwent, the Council of Senior Officers of the Polish Professional Soldiers.

The government is due to unveil a range of measures today to support the armed forces and their families. The measures are in a report commissioned in July into the military covenant to ask what more society could do to support the armed forces and their families. The report by Professor Hew Strachan found that many service families struggled to get a mortgage because they moved so often. UPDATE: The task force report has now been released. See Government to 'rebuild' covenant.

Adam Downey was a signaller with the Royal Corps of Signals when he was hit by a car in Afghanistan at 19. He says changes to the AFCS would make a "massive difference" to his life

British Airways wants to hire 800 new pilots by 2016 using three combined recruitment programmes, including a joint initiative with the armed forces to take on personnel due to leave the service. People Management Magazine reports that:

The BAFF Chairman was invited to the unveiling today of a bronze statue of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, Commander of No 11 Group, Fighter Command, which was responsible for the protection of London and the South East of England during the Battle of Britain. The statue in Waterloo Place, London has been presented by the Sir Keith Park Memorial Campaign, following on from the temporary display of a statue of the same design on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square for six months from 4 November 2009, and marks the culmination of a campaign set in motion three years ago, on Battle of Britain Day 2007. It has been said of Sir Keith Park that "If any one man won the Battle of Britain, he did."

The death has been announced of Honorary Lieutenant (Queen's Gurkha Officer) Tulbahadur Pun VC. The following statement has been issued by the British Embassy, Kathmandu:

Iinquests have raised a number of important issues affecting bereaved families, and sometimes also affecting serving personnel who might be subject to criticism or blame for their actions.

BAFF continues to argue for the availability of some form of legal aid to enable bereaved service families to be legally represented and advised at inquests, or fatal accident inquiries (FAI) in Scotland. We think that all bereaved families should have access to legal representation and advice, but service-related inquests can raise specialised issues, and often - unlike many "civilian" families - without any prospect of eventually recovering the costs as part of a compensation settlement.

The families of people who have died in police custody or in prison are in several respects treated better than bereaved service families.
There is also growing concern at the position of individual service personnel who may feature prominently in inquests as a result of their service duties - but may not receive any assistance from the Ministry of Defence in regard to the cost of legal representation or advice.

Lawyers instructed by the MOD naturally attend the inquest to represent the Ministry, not the serving individuals involved. Their line of questioning and argument is often designed to show that standing instructions were in place but not properly followed - without much regard to the interests of serving individuals.

Inquests have also raised important questions relating to the applicability of human rights to armed forces personnel while deployed on combat missions.

From Mr Justice Collins' judgement in the Jason Smith inquest case (see links opposite):

But the soldier does not lose all protection simply because he is in hostile territory carrying out dangerous operations. Thus, for example, to send a soldier out on patrol or, indeed, into battle with defective equipment could constitute a breach of Article 2*.

If I may take a historical illustration, the failures of the commissariat and the failures to provide any adequate medical attention in the Crimean War would whereas the Charge of the Light Brigade would not be regarded as a possible breach of Article 2.

So the protection of Article 2 is capable of extending to a member of the armed forces wherever he or she may be; whether it does will depend on the circumstances of the particular case.

* Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights - the "right to life"

Corporate Manslaughter

In any debate about the applicability of the right to life and the duty of care in operational theatres, it should be noted that certain "military activities" are excluded from the scope of the criminal offence created by the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Furthermore, a wide range of operational military activities will be exclusively public functions within the terms of section 3(2) of the Act and so exempt from the offence.

The "military activities" exemption is contained in section 4 of the Act:

4.  Military activities

(1) Any duty of care owed by the Ministry of Defence in respect of—

(a) operations within subsection (2),

(b) activities carried on in preparation for, or directly in support of, such operations, or

(c) training of a hazardous nature, or training carried out in a hazardous way, which it is considered needs to be carried out, or carried out in that way, in order to improve or maintain the effectiveness of the armed forces with respect to such operations,
is not a “relevant duty of care”.

(2) The operations within this subsection are operations, including peacekeeping operations and operations for dealing with terrorism, civil unrest or serious public disorder, in the course of which members of the armed forces come under attack or face the threat of attack or violent resistance.

(3) Any duty of care owed by the Ministry of Defence in respect of activities carried on by members of the special forces is not a “relevant duty of care”.

(4) In this section “the special forces” means those units of the armed forces the maintenance of whose capabilities is the responsibility of the Director of Special Forces or which are for the time being subject to the operational command of that Director.

• Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
• Explanatory Notes to Corporate Manslaughter And Corporate Homicide Act 2007

external links

• Herald, 19/07/08, Killed soldiers ‘wearing wrong armour’ An inquest heard that two soldiers who were killed by enemy action in Afghanistan while manning a defensive position were wearing "incorrect" equipment which was not authorised by unit standing orders for use while in contact with the enemy. While there was evidence that the men would have died anyway even if they had been using the correct equipment, which had been issued to them, the coroner said "What concerns me is the standing order was not followed. Those soldiers should not have been in the position they were without the appropriate equipment. If they are issued with the correct equipment, but are later found not to be wearing it, that represents a failure in the chain of command."
• Telegraph, 21/06/08: Families of troops killed in Snatch Land Rovers to sue MoD
• Telegraph, 11/07/08: MOD in £3m abuse pay-out to Baha Mousa and nine other Iraqi 'torture' victims: "The settlement follows a statement by Des Browne, the Secretary of State for Defence in March when he admitted the Army had breached Article 2, the right to life, and Article 3, the prohibition of torture, in the European Convention on Human Rights."

Conservative Party's Military Covenant Commission

In their interim report issued on 17 June 2008, the Conservative Party's " Military Covenant Commission" chaired by author Frederick Forsyth deplored the backlog of military inquests said to be currently standing at 90 cases. The Commission also recommended that the Ministry of Defence should be banned from hiring barristers to defend it at military inquests.

• Military Covenant Commission

Pte Jason Smith inquest

• BBC 11/4/08 - Human rights 'apply to UK troops' Includes link to video clip of Des Browne rejecting 'defective equipment' claims, and explaining decision to appeal against the court's judgment.
• Guardian 11/4/08 - Faulty army gear may breach human rights, court rules (Guardian)
• Times, 16/4/08 - The Law Explored: human rights on the battlefield
• Judgement of Collins J in Smith v Assistant Deputy Coroner for Oxfordshire & Secretary of State for Defence NB - the Secretary of State for Defence is appealing against the judgment.
• Times Law Reports 30/05/08 - Convention applies to Armed Forces on service outside the jurisdiction
• Short report from Weekly Law Reports
• Article by solicitor representing Jason Smith's family

Coroner reform

• Ministry of Justice 18/06/08 - Coroner reform - draft charter for the bereaved.
• ePolitix.com 26/06/08 - Ministers defend plans for coroners' system
• Ministry of Justice - draft Coroners Bill index

Boards of Inquiry and Service Inquiries

Board of Inquiry were replaced on 1 Oct 2008 by a new harmonised system of "service inquiry" introduced under section 343 of the Armed Forces Act 2006.

• Ministry of Defence - Boards of Inquiry index (HMS Tireless 20th March 2007 BOI report published 11/06/08)
• MOD booklet - Board of Inquiry and Coroners' Inquests (published 08/02/08)

Corporate Manslaughter

• Institute of Occupational Safety and Health: Army takes aim at corporate manslaughter challenge
• The Crown Prosecution Service - Corporate Manslaughter

From Gordon Brown's speech to the Labour Conference:

... and let me talk today about how we will do more to support the great British institutions that best define this country.

The first is the one I spoke about in detail on Sunday when I talked about the mission of our brave men and women in Afghanistan.

The heroism of our fighting men and women is unsurpassed and we owe them a debt we can never fully repay. And let us on behalf of the British people pay tribute to them and their courage today.

The British armed forces truly are the finest in the world. And let us say to them – all British forces will always have all the equipment they need and the best support we can give.

And conference let me say, Britain will work with President Obama and 40 other countries for peace and stability for the people of Afghanistan, and to make sure that terrorism doesn’t come to the streets of Britain.

From Harriet Harman's speech to the Labour Conference:

The lives of women today - and their hopes and ambitions are different from our mothers’. And that is the case

whether you are a girl school leaver in Scotland

or a young mother in Wales

whether you are one of the thousands of wives of our armed forces.

The wives of our servicemen have always held things together at home. And their task has become even more demanding with the men away fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Just like every other woman, service wives want to, and need to, get training, get work, find childcare. But that’s hard if your family has to move regularly and if you are on a base miles away from your parents and in-laws. That’s why Bob Ainsworth, the Secretary of State for Defence, and I are working with ministers across government to make sure that as well as doing all we can to support our armed forces, We are helping our armed forces wives’ so they don’t lose out on new opportunities to get on in their work. Our navy, airforce and soldiers make a great sacrifice for our country and we back them up. Their wives, too, make an enormous personal sacrifice for this country and we will back them up too.

Iraq Inquiry: operational equipment.

British forces went into Iraq without enough body armour because planning for the war took place “at the last minute”, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup told the inquiry into the conflict.

By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent, The Daily Telegraph

Published: 12:35PM GMT 01 Feb 2010

Sir Jock, the head of the Armed Forces, also told the Chilcot inquiry that military aircraft programmes were not properly funded in the run-up to the war.

He was in charge of defence equipment in 2002 and 2003. He told the inquiry that several mistakes were made in the years and months before the war.

Sir Jock admitted that some troops sent into Iraq did not have the proper desert combat clothing and boots, because supplies did not reach the right units.

He also said that some troops did not get the body armour they should have had.

“The other area where we could have done better is Enhanced Combat Body Armour. We didn’t have enough of that in theatre at the time," he said.

“It was all being done so rapidly at the last minute so no one knew who had what.”

• Full article at Telegraph.co.uk

from Martin Givens, More guile needed in the Afghan game, Sunday Times 24 January 2010:

No visitor to the British army base in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, could fail to be moved by the quiet sense of purpose of the officers and the cheery idealism of the men and women — hard to appreciate back home when the news is a daily diet of explosions and death. Soldiers spoke of the villages they had helped, the wells dug, the bridges built. Winning hearts and minds on their lips sounds less a tired old slogan, more a vocation.

Almost the entire contingent of Britain’s 10,000 troops in Afghanistan have been told they could be sacked within months. BAFF Chairman Douglas Young writes about the issue on the Telegraph.co.uk website:

Of course the threat of redundancy will affect morale on the front line. How could it not?

UPDATE: The Westminster Hall debate on "Participation of Scottish armed forces personnel in a referendum on Scottish independence" , which was due to be held on Wednesday, 25 January, did not take place as the proposer of the debate was not present. This can often indicate that the Government has managed to persuade the proposer that, for one reason or another, the debate would not be timely.

The cancelled debate and BAFF's stance on the issue is mentioned at:

From a Liberal Democrat press release:

MP LEADS CALL FOR A FAIR DEAL FOR OUR FORCES

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 22nd Sep 2009

Hampshire MP, Sandra Gidley, has led Liberal Democrat calls for a fair deal for the men and women of Britain's armed forces at the party's conference in Bournemouth.

Sandra, whose father served in the army, and whose constituency is home to the School of Army Flying, urged delegates to the Liberal Democrat conference to back a motion for better housing for our soldiers, and better access to education for their children.