Clause 4 - Existing naval and marine pensions
Armed Forces(Pensions and Compensation) Bill
5:15 pm
Mr Gerald Howarth (Aldershot, Conservative)
I understand that, but it is one of the things that rankles. We are concerned with getting the best deal for the armed forces. It is needlessly partisan of the Minister to refer to an equality agenda. It sends out the wrong signal to the armed forces. If he thinks that that arrangement is the best thing for the armed forces, fine, but to say that it is part of an overall equality agenda makes it sound like social engineering and political correctness. That does a lot of damage, and the Minister knows that that is very unpopular at senior levels in the services for which he is responsible.