§ 2. Mr. FabricantTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of the Whittington barracks, Lichfield, over the next five years. [4310]
§ The Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. Nicholas Soames)There are no plans to change the role of Whittington barracks, which houses the Army training regiment, Lichfield, over the next five years.
§ Mr. FabricantI thank my hon. Friend for his reassuring answer. Will he take the opportunity to praise the role of the Army training regiment, which forges young, timorous boys into hardy men?
§ Mr. SoamesIt is certainly a pleasing prospect. I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to the work of the Army training regiments. They do remarkable work, and I am sure that the House will agree with my hon. Friend that they do an excellent job of converting the basic material of new recruits into a well trained and motivated Army of the future. The House will also want to know that the quality of training undertaken in the Army training regiments is second to none in any organisation of its type in the world, and we are lucky with our ATRs.