§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent representations he has received asking him to review the cases of soldiers who were shot for cowardice during the First World War; and if he will make a statement. [77046]
§ Dr. MoonieIn the last six months I have received six representations from hon. and right hon. Members and 22 from members of the public on this issue.
As the House has been told on previous occasions, my right hon. Friend the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Dr. Reid, examined this matter in great detail and with deep care and concern. There are considerable legal difficulties in considering pardons, particularly the lack of evidence available today, and all these points were explained in my right hon. Friend's statement to this House on 24 July 1998, Official Report, columns 1372–86.
While there are, I am afraid, no grounds to reconsider this matter, it is important that we do not overlook the 704W very important steps that have been taken to recognise these men as victims of the war, and to draw them and their families into the nation's consciousness and remembrance. The public commemoration of these men in the new memorial in National Memorial Arboretum is very fitting.