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Shadow Defence Minister calls for views of service personnel, veterans and their families on Armed Forces Bill

By 26 March 2021No Comments

Portsmouth South’s Stephen Morgan MP has called for service personnel, veterans and their families, as well as civilians subject to service law, to share their views on the Armed Forces Bill currently working its way through Parliament.

A cross-party Select Committee has issued a survey seeking views on the proposed Bill to inform the Committee’s inquiry, and help improve life for the armed forces community.

Among other things, the Bill proposes a legal responsibility for public bodies to give ‘due regard’ to the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant when accessing public services such as housing, healthcare and education.

Labour has criticised the Bill for being too weak, and that proposals would do little to correct the many ways in which service personnel are disadvantaged.

The Official Opposition is also pushing the government to clarify why it has not adopted Lyons’ recommendation that civilian courts should have jurisdiction in matters of murder, rape and serious sexual offences committed in the UK.

The Shadow Armed Forces Minister, who is leading Labour’s response to the Bill, Stephen Morgan MP, said,

“With this Bill the government risks creating a two-tier covenant and a race to the bottom on services for our forces communities across the country.

“But it also fails to deliver urgent service justice reforms to improve the number of cases tried related to the most serious of crimes, such as murder, rape and sexual offences.

“It’s critical that the Armed Forces Bill Select Committee get the clearest understanding of what people connected to Armed Services see as a priority and the best way to do that is by responding to this survey.

“I encourage Portsmouth people to speak loud and clearly to Government in how life can be improved for service personnel, veterans and their families by completing this important survey.”

To complete the survey click here. The deadline for responses is Monday 5 April 5 PM and takes roughly five minutes to complete.