"Government Must Adopt 'Deepcut Amendment'" - Öpik

2.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 19th May 2006

"The Deepcut parents' bravery has highlighted major flaws in the culture and systems of the British Army."

Lembit Öpik, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire, said today the Government has to prove it has learnt the lessons of the deaths at the Deepcut Army Barracks by adopting an amendment to the Armed Forces Bill which would see the establishment of an Independent Military Complaints Commissioner (IMCC).

The Bill will be debated on Monday in the House of Commons. The amendment has been tabled by Joan Humble head of the All-Party Group on Army Deaths.

Mr. Öpik is constituency MP for Des and Doreen James, whose daughter, Cheryl, died at Deepcut in 1995. Commenting ahead of the debate, he said:

"On Monday, the Government has to show it has learnt from the Deepcut affair by adopting this amendment.

"In the conclusion of his Deepcut Review, Nicholas Blake was absolutely explicit in his call for an Independent Armed Forces Ombudsman. The Government is failing in its duty of care if it does not adopt the Deepcut amendment on Monday.

"We are constantly being assured that things have changed since Deepcut, yet in the last year we've seen bullying and brutality by British soldiers in the UK and in Iraq.

"The Deepcut parents have had to fight every step of the way to get to the truth of what happened to their children. Still they are being denied access to the Devon & Cornwall Police report which could shed further light on their children's deaths.

"The parents' bravery has highlighted major flaws in the culture and systems of the British Army. The Ministry of Defence must acknowledge these problems and take action. Report after report has demonstrated the need for an Independent Commissioner. It's time for the MoD to show they've been listening."

ENDS

Notes

The Blake Review states (Recommendation 26, page 403) that "There should be established a Commissioner of Military Complaints (the Armed Forces Ombudsman) who should be a person independent of the three Services." (page 403)

The Committee and Remaining Stages of the Armed Forces Bill will be debated in the House of Commons on Monday 22nd May.