Armed Forces Bill

That is exactly what the Bill is doing. At the moment, the maximum penalty for desertion is life imprisonment. Clause 8 will bring that down to a sentence of up to two years for general desertion—that is, desertion in peacetime or from a UK base—and up to life imprisonment for deserting when deployed on operational duties. So we are changing the law, and it will be better than the tariff that my hon. Friend has just cited for France, for example.