Westminster Hall debate on Deepcut Army Deaths

Speech by Lembit on Wed 3rd May 2006

I pay tribute to the Honourable Lady for Blackpool North for securing this debate.

I'd also like to pay tribute to the parents of the four young recruits who died at the Deepcut barracks. The Deepcut parents have been forced to fight a passionate and painful campaign to get answers to questions which they have a fundamental right to have answered - namely how and why their children died. From the start they have conducted themselves with enormous dignity, and astonishing courage, and I'm sure all of us present would like to recognise that pay our respects to them.

The publication of the Blake Inquiry has been a long awaited step in the long and slow march towards truth and disclosure. I have a strong view about where we are and what needs to happen next.

The families need to be given due time to fully absorb the Blake report. They remain grateful to Mr. Blake for the work he did in compiling his review, although they have reservations about some of his recommendations.

They're also disappointed at the Government's insistence that this is somehow case closed. The families have been in this position before, where they've been told that everything has been done that could be done, and that to keep on campaigning is futile. But they have kept on, and in doing so, have edged ever closer to the truth. In retrospect it seems plausible to imagine that the Government had decided beforehand that the Blake Review would be their last action in relation to Deepcut. SO, my first question to the Minister is whether it is their intention to regard the Blake Inquiry as cased closed? For if this in their intention, it would be a bad mistake in terms of public interest, and in terms of respect for the wishes of the parents, who, after all, deserve breathing space as they seek to absorb this massive report.

Furthermore, Mr. Blake extracted yet more detail surrounding the deaths and the culture at Deepcut than the parents or the Surrey Police were aware of. He found 'foul abuse of trainees', and evidence that sex had been used 'as a passport'. Bearing in mind the limited nature of Mr. Blake's powers of investigation, it is possible, indeed probable, that we still don't know the whole story.

Remember, Mr. Blake did not have the power to compel witnesses to stand. With the Blake Review the families have had to accept that everyone who knew details or factors relating to the deaths stepped forward voluntarily. It's hardly surprising they remain cautious about his conclusions.

Before the Blake Review the families believed that a properly conducted Public Inquiry, with the power to compel witnesses to appear, was the only way of truly getting to the bottom of the Deepcut deaths. They continue to do so. So my second question is whether the Government are at least willing to hear representations from the parents about their views on the case for a public inquiry?

Also, the MoD is adamant that the problems that affected Deepcut so severely are things of the past.

But according to the latest Army Continuous Attitude Survey, 8% of Soldiers say they've been bullied in the last 12 months. That's more than 7,000 personnel. Of those Soldiers who complained about unfair treatment, discrimination, harassment or bullying 77% were not satisfied with the way the complaint was handled.

In his summation Mr. Blake expressed the hope that the lessons of Deepcut could be learnt. In light of this I'm joining the calls made by the other honourable members today that the Government should move immediately to establish an Armed Forces Ombudsman. Thirdly therefore, what view has the Minister in regard to this recommendation?

I'd like to stress again that the families need to have time to absorb fully the content and conclusions of this substantive report. They should be given space to take in Blake's conclusions and recommendations, until a point where they feel they can make a formal response to the report.

In doing this, it is vital that they receive as much information as possible in relation to the deaths of their children. It is a scandal that the evidence given to the Devon & Cornwall police in their review of the Surrey Police, has not been made available to the parents.

Remember, the Devon and Cornwall investigation took two years. The Surrey Police had plenty of time to devise a satisfactory means of disclosure. They failed to do so.

As a result, a full seven months after Devon and Cornwall published a 3-page executive summary, the Deepcut parents still haven't had access to the 150 page report. Indeed, in my view the refusal to move to full disclosure hints at a culture of secrecy, with the ludicrous referral of a member of the Surrey Police Authority - Mr Terry Dicks - to the Standards Board fro England for daring to request a copy of the report. Note that the Chair and vice chair, who have no greater legal status on the Authority, WERE given copies. This is in itself induction indiciation that something has gone very wrong with the process. Therefore, my fourth question is for the Minister to investigate the circumstances around the withholding of that report from some members of the Authority and not others, and what steps Minister Minsiter will take to report to us on this matter?

Finally, one of Mr. Blake's chief recommendations was "that agreement should be reached as to any further disclosure needed to enable the families of Sean Benton, Cheryl James and Geoff Gray to consider whether a fresh inquest into their respective child's death is in the interests of justice."

The Deepcut affair has exposed the secretive and opaque nature of our police and military culture. These parents have had to fight every step of the way, to get closer to the truth of what happened to their children.

To regain the trust of the Deepcut families and the public, the police need to operate in an open and transparent manner. They should be sharing, not blocking, access to information contained in the Devon and Cornwall report.

I'm calling on the Minister to work with his colleagues in the Home Office to ensure that the Devon and Cornwall police report is therefore also disclosed in full to the parents of those who died at Deepcut.

Only once the parents have seen all the evidence available can they decide how best to continue their campaign.

I have not enjoyed pushing endlessly for the Government to exercise a more open and transparent approach towards the four tragic deaths at Deepcut Army Barracks. But, given the litany of failings which have been exposed at each turn, I'm more convinced than ever that it has been right for us to do so.

I do not enjoy the prospect of continuing to apply ever more pressure on the Government to get to the bottom of the unanswered questions, and to share reports which until now have been kept secret, officially to protect individual identities - even though we all know this could easily be achieve AND the report published as well. But, either way, the Government can be assured that this issue will not go away until the questions are answered.