§ Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ Whether they will review the rule that members of the Armed Forces recommended for gallantry medals must be shown to have employed their weapons.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)My Lords, there are no plans to review the rules for the award of gallantry medals. To be considered for an award, specific and verifiable acts of gallantry are required, but there is no specific stipulation, and never has been, that requires a weapon to have been employed.
§ Lord Beaumont of WhitleyMy Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. In the tragic case of the military police murdered in Iraq, when there were no witnesses and therefore gallantry could not be verified, did not his department say that one of the problems was that one of the rifles that was recovered had not been fired? Would he not agree that in today's rather odd forms of fighting, it may be more gallant not to fire one's rifle than to fire it?
§ Lord BachMy Lords, all kinds of circumstances occur in war time, including the one that the noble Lord mentioned at the end of his question. However, he will be relieved to know that whether weapons have been employed or not is not a criterion of an award for gallantry.
In the case of the tragic event in which six members of the Royal Military Police died, we have to await the board of inquiry before decisions are taken. I want to emphasise to the House, and I am sure that the House will agree, that that in no way lessens our respect or gratitude for those who died in the service of their country. The sacrifices made by those men have been honoured by their regiment and acknowledged by Ministers and Army commanders alike—and, of course, by their fellow countrymen.
§ Lord Astor of HeverMy Lords, in general, should this not be a matter for the Armed Forces and not left for politicians to decide?
§ Lord BachMy Lords, that is absolutely right. I should make it absolutely clear that the process that is involved is entirely separate from Ministers, as it should be. It would obviously be inappropriate for any Minister to 1432 seek to influence it in any way. What happens is that the chain of command decides whether someone should be put forward in given circumstances; that goes up the chain of command until eventually Her Majesty, on the advice of the Secretary of State—who himself receives advice from the Ministry of Defence service honours committee—makes the announcement.
§ Baroness StrangeMy Lords, may I agree with my noble friend the Minister in all the things he has said? Is he aware that my noble and gallant friend Lord Bramall told me, just before he left for a memorial service, that he had recommended many people for gallantry and that not many of them had used weapons? Many of them were doctors, rescuing people.
§ Lord BachMy Lords. I am grateful to the noble Baroness. I had an opportunity to speak to the noble and gallant Lord before he left, and he made the same point to me.