Armed Forces Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:14 pm on 10 January 2011.

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Photo of Jim Murphy Jim Murphy Shadow Secretary of State for Defence 5:14, 10 January 2011

I think that the hon. Gentleman called me the Secretary of State; of course, I am the shadow Secretary of State, but I am sure that will be corrected by Hansard. There are measures that we welcome, some of which I have alluded to already; I shall discuss some of the others later and will give the hon. Gentleman the opportunity to intervene at that point if he wishes.

The Conservative manifesto pledged to ensure that our armed forces, their families and our veterans are properly taken care of, but the taskforce was tasked with finding

"innovative, low-cost policy ideas."

It is difficult for any Government to find the right support for our armed forces on the cheap, without necessary and adequate funding. They have not yet responded to the work of the taskforce.