§ Lord Burnhamasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they intend to enforce court orders which may be imposed against servicemen or ex-servicemen who are not entitled to legal aid and who are unsuccessful in litigation entered into as a result of illnesses alleged to have been contracted as a result of service in the Gulf.
Earl HoweMy department's general policy is to seek to recover its costs where a case is successfully defended except where claimants are legally aided. However, if illness or injury can be shown, to the satisfaction of a court if necessary, to have resulted from MoD negligence in individual cases which are legally aided, and the same particular circumstances can be shown to apply to non-legally aided claimants, those individuals will not be forced by the MoD to enter into litigation to establish their own right to compensation.