I sense that my noble friend might be coming to the end of her remarks. Perhaps I might take her back to the question of independence and the need for the appointment to come from members of the service police. The answer that she gave to the Committee was, “Well, that’s what the Armed Forces Act says”. My response would be, “Well, so what?” Is it not the purpose of this Bill and this Committee to look again at these issues? I do not want to put my noble friend on the spot, but could we perhaps think again as to whether that is still the best thing to do, given the nature of the role, and whether, as we move forward, because there are other examples in defence where we recruit from civilians because they are best qualified and best placed, the time has come to look again at that requirement?
Armed Forces Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
(Conservative)
in the House of Lords on Tuesday, 2 November 2021.
It occurred during Debate on bills
and
Committee proceeding on Armed Forces Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
815 c298GC 
Session
2021-22
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords Grand Committee
Subjects
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2021-12-02 10:06:35 +0000
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