Army Regiments (Hansard, 14 October 1991)

§ Mr. Speaker
Before I call hon. Members to present their petitions, I remind them of the need to conclude their presentations by putting the petitions in the bag behind the Chair.

§ Sir Hector Monro (Dumfries)
I am pleased to present to this honourable House a petition from the people of Scotland. The boxes that are being carried into the Chamber are only a small example of the total number, which contain no fewer than 800,000 signatures that have been collected in recent weeks in Scotland.
The petition is against the amalgamation of the Royal Scots and the King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Queen's Own Highlanders and the Gordon Highlanders, and against the loss of the second battalion of the Scots Guards. General Sir John MacMillan and his team collected these signatures over a short period, which shows the strength of feeling in Scotland. We in Scotland believe that the world is too uncertain for such drastic cuts and that the recruitment and retention by the fine regiments to which I have referred justifies their remaining unamalga-mated. The petition says: Wherefore your petitioners pray that your honourable House may vote against these misguided reductions which strike at the heart of Scotland. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. That is signed by my constituent, Mr. Thorburn of Rosemount crescent. Annan. I beg to present the petition.

§ Mr. John Home Robertson (East Lothian)
I rise to join the hon. Member for Dumfries (Sir H. Monro) in presenting the petition signed by 800,000 Scots to protest against the amalgamation of the Royal Scots and the King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Gordon Highlanders and the Queen's Own Highlanders.
This is one of the largest petitions raised in recent years in Scotland. I cannot recall such strong feeling on any one subject except, perhaps, the poll tax in Scotland. I remind the Government of what that led to in due course.
It is clear that the Government's decision is not based on appropriate defence considerations. It does not pay sufficient attention to the quality of the regiments that are concerned. I have great pleasure in personally presenting the petition, which is signed by the elected members of East Lothian district council, led by the leader of the council, Councillor George Wanlace. I call upon the House to vote against the misguided reductions, which strike at the heart of Scotland.

§ Mr. John Marshall (Hendon, South)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. When I presented a petition one Friday morning and started to make a speech you quickly pulled me up.

§ Mr. Bob Cryer (Bradford, South)
A direct challenge. Name him.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I do not think that I need help. Mrs. Margaret Ewing.

§ Mrs. Margaret Ewing (Moray)
I am most honoured to add my name and that of my party to the names of those presenting petitions tonight on behalf of the Keep Our 122 Scottish Battalions campaign. Included in the boxes of signatures are many collected in my own constituency— almost 19,000. The signatures were collected under the auspices of the national campaign, the local district council, our local newspapers, local business and many organisations, to all of which we are much indebted for demonstrating the strength of opinion in my area, which I believe is reflected throughout Scotland.
In my own constituency, the Queen's Own Highlanders and Gordon Highlanders both have long and excellent traditions of recruitment, retention and service. We are justly proud of our traditions and of our record, not least recently in the Gulf war, during which we lost young men in a so-called friendly fire incident. I echo and endorse the sentiments of my constituents and urge the Government to think again on this matter.
As other hon. Members have explained, the petition ends: Wherefore your Petitioners pray that Your Honourable House may vote against these misguided reductions which strike at the heart of Scotland. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray".

§ Mr. Archy Kirkwood (Roxburgh and Berwickshire)
I should like to add my voice to those already raised in support of the petition presented by the Keep Our Scottish Battalions campaign. It is right that the House should remember that, for good and onerous reasons, the professionals in the military are not in a position to speak for themselves. The petition speaks for them very effectively.
I am honoured and proud that so many of the signatures were collected in the central Borders region, where the King's Own Scottish Borderers are considered to be part of the local way of life. A lot of areas would be proud to have anything approaching the amount of local support for their local infantry battalion that our battalion enjoys.
I was impressed when one of my constituents wrote to me reminding me of the verse by Rudyard Kipling——

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. That is going a bit far, given that the hon. Gentleman is presenting a petition.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
It is only four lines, Mr. Speaker: It's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' `Chuck him out, the
brute!' But it's 'Saviour of 'is country' when the guns begin to shoot. My constituents are anxious that the House should vote against these misguided reductions which strike at the heart of Scotland.

§ Mr. Malcolm Bruce (Gordon)
I am delighted to add my support to those who have have already spoken and to the thousands of my constituents who have signed the petition on behalf of the Scottish battalions. As the Member of Parliament representing Gordon, I am especially proud of the fact that 240,000 signatures have been secured in support of the continuation of the independence of the Gordon Highlanders. I can confirm that the strength of the support for that regiment is strong throughout Scotland and especially throughout the north-east of Scotland.
I believe that the Government's decisions are misguided. My constituents ask that they reverse them and that the House should vote against them. The petition ends: And your Petitioners, in duty bound, will ever pray.

§ Dr. Norman A. Godman (Greenock and Port Glasgow)
As I served with the Royal Military Police, although at a very humble level, during my national service, I regard it as a pleasure and a privilege to present a petition on behalf of my constituents who urged me to present it to the House to support the campaign against the appalling measures against those fine and honourable Scottish regiments. I need only say that the petition reads: Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House may vote against these misguided reductions which strike at the heart of Scotland. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

§ Mrs. Ann Winterton (Congleton)
I am honoured to present the humble petition of the people of Cheshire in support of the 22nd (Cheshire) regiment. The petition sheweth that the cuts in the Infantry proposed by Her Majesty's Government are too severe in the light of the infantry's continuing commitments and in the present world situation and that in this context it is not sensible to amalgamate the Cheshire and Staffordshire Regiments which are two of the best recruited regiments in the British Army. More than 100,000 people from Cheshire have signed the petition—many of them from the constituencies of Warrington, Macclesfield and Congleton. The petition continues: Wherefore your petitioners pray that your Honourable House may vote against those ill considered defence cuts so that the amalgamation of the 22nd (Cheshire) regiment with the Staffordshire Regiment may be re-considered and reversed. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

§ Mr. Patrick Cormack (Staffordshire, South)
I have the honour to present a petition which has been signed by nearly 100,000 people in Staffordshire and the west midlands. The petition objects to the amalgamation of the Staffordshire and Cheshire regiments. My constituents and people throughout Staffordshire have enormous pride in the Staffordshire Regiment and its traditions. They are particularly proud of the way in which the regiment served in the Gulf this year. They believe that the present world situation is too uncertain for the infantry to be reduced so significantly and they also believe that the Staffordshire Regiment's proud traditions and magnificent reputation should justify a reprieve and that it should continue to play an individual part in the honourable history of the British Army.
124 The petitioners note the regiment's outstanding record and the fact that it is very well recruited. People throughout Staffordshire and the west midlands beg our honourable House to take note of their petition: Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House will not give support to this proposed amalgamation which is unreasonable and ill-judged. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray".

§ Mr. Bruce George (Walsall, South)
It is a great honour for me on behalf of hon. Members in Staffordshire and the west midlands to present a petition which has been signed by 100,000 people on behalf of the Staffordshire Regiment. The explanations were provided in our debate this evening, particularly by the hon. Member for Staffordshire, South (Mr. Cormack), so I will not repeat them. However, the Staffordshire Regiment has played an enormous role in the military social life of our area and it should not be amalgamated with an equally worthy regiment—the Cheshire Regiment. Both regiments are free standing and they should be allowed to continue to serve their regions and the country as they have done so successfully in the past, most recently in the Gulf. The petition reads: Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House will not give support to this proposed amalgamation which is unreasonable and ill-judged. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray".

§ Mr. William Cash (Stafford)
I have the honour to present a humble petition from the supporters of the Save our Staffords campaign in my constituency. It is unnecessary for me to repeat what I said in the debate except to add that the Government's proposal to amalgamate the Staffordshire Regiment with the Cheshire Regiment is unacceptable and unreasonable.
The petitioners consider that the present world situation is too uncertain for the infantry to be reduced so significantly. They note the outstanding service record of the Staffordshire Regiment which was most recently demonstrated in the Gulf. They note that the Staffordshire Regiment is well recruited in Staffordshire and has performed remarkable service for many years. The petition adds: Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House will not give support to this proposed amalgamation which is both unreasonable and ill-judged.