Clause 4 - Existing naval and marine pensions
Armed Forces(Pensions and Compensation) Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Paul Keetch (Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, Defence; Hereford, Liberal Democrat)
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will remember my exchange with the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) in the Second Reading debate when I asked him a straightforward question, and I ask the hon. Gentleman the same question now. Is he saying that the official policy of the Conservative party is not to extend to unmarried partners of the armed forces the same benefits as married partners? If so, he is effectively saying that when Bombadier Brad
Tinnion was killed in Sierra Leone while his unmarried partner Anna Homsi was carrying their child, Georgia, she would not have got the compensation awarded by this Government.