DEEPCUT: "NO OMBUDSMAN, NO DISCLOSURE, NO INQUIRY AND NO JUSTICE"

4.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 13th Jun 2006

"The Deepcut parents have struggled long and hard for truth and justice."

Lembit Öpik, MP for Montgomeryshire, said today the Government today accused the Government of trying to 'shut the door' on the Deepcut parents, following the Ministry of Defence's official response to the Deepcut Review.

Lembit, who is constituency MP for Des & Doreen James, whose daughter, Cheryl, died at Deepcut, said today:

"The Government is trying to close the door on the Deepcut case, and they are leaving us with no ombudsman, no disclosure, no inquiry and no justice!

"Nicholas Blake said clearly that if there is no independent ombudsman, there should be a public inquiry into the Deepcut deaths. The Government's half-hearted proposals today fall way short of what Blake called for, and what the parents wanted. The MoD would appoint an external reviewer who would have to refer cases back into the system. This position could not be described as 'independent'.

"In the absence of a truly independent ombudsman we are renewing our calls for a public inquiry. It's clear the Government has not learnt the lessons of the Deepcut tragedy. When Mr. Blake has seen the Government's diluted and tokenistic version of his recommendations, I expect him to back our public inquiry calls.

"In the mean time vital information is still being withheld from the families! The Devon and Cornwall Police Report into Deepcut concluded last year. Nine months later, the parents have only seen three pages of this one-hundred-and-fifty page document! The report should immediately be disclosed to the parents, in full.

"The Deepcut parents have struggled long and hard for truth and justice. They have been let down by the army, the police and the Government. The MoD had the chance to redeem themselves today, but they blew it."

ENDS

Lembit Öpik is the constituency MP for Des and Doreen James, whose daughter Cheryl died at Deepcut.