Armed Forces Bill

I will not do so now, as I am trying to describe something. In that film, we saw guards on a ship at night, who heard a sound, and fire was offered. They went to investigate, and the ““enemy”” took off in an inflatable and were seen disappearing. The guards were not allowed to shoot them because they were not under immediate threat. One Member raised the point that while they were not under immediate threat, the enemy might have been about to offer immediate threat to some of their fellow servicemen. This is a difficult area, and the hon. Member for Islwyn is right to raise it. A lot more work needs to be done on that. To return to the substance, I raised the issue of the survey because it has already gone into the public domain—extracts of it were published in The Sunday Telegraph a couple of weeks ago. I have made inquiries among those who are currently serving, and I understand that a great effort has been made to try to encourage and build confidence among those on the front line that they might open fire with confidence. To the extent that that has been done—according to an insider whose word I trust implicitly—I am encouraged. I make no apology for repeating something that has already appeared in a newspaper, perhaps at greater length, as it illustrates the risk that we face if we do not back up our people, and how easy it is for them to lose the confidence that is essential if they are to be able to fight the fight on our behalf and to save their own lives. If they fail to open fire out of reticence and lose their lives, we will have betrayed and failed them, as the whole House will agree. We must get the balance of judgment right.