🗣️ Speeches and Debates
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Will the Minister give way?
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Why are the Scottish regiments being treated more favourably, as Wales would see it, than the Welsh? Will the Minister respond to the specific point on what we consider the relegation of the old name, compared with what is happening in Scotland?
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Before I open this debate on an important topical issue in Wales, it would be appropriate, as I hope all hon. Members agree, to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the recent Hercules crash in Iraq, and to those men and women who have served this country in Iraq and other areas in recent times. I am grateful to have the opportunity to initiate this debate on Army restructuring in...
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I agree entirely with my hon. Friend, and I hope that the Minister will take that on board. I know that decisions on a regimental base have yet to be made but, at this stage, it is worth putting down that marker, as well as stating the need for the new Welsh regiment to have a home in Wales, whether in the south or the north. The Secretary of State made an announcement on 16 December last...
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That is an important issue because, as we know, the British Army traditionally recruits on a regional basis, and Wales has been a fertile recruitment ground.
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I agree entirely. To rebut any suggestion that sensitivities about the name were not ventilated at an early stage, I should say that I know that the colonel of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, one Major-General Brian Plummer, to whom I have spoken in recent days, did in fact express that view and say that the old, famous names of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Wales should be...
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I am not privy to that information, but the divisional colonel-commandant may well have expressed a different view, a collective view representing the interests of not only the Welsh regiments, but others, too. As far as the Welsh regiments are concerned, my understanding is that the wish was expressed to the executive committee of the Army Board.
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On this occasion, the hon. Gentleman is correct. I hope that the Minister notes that there is a large measure of cross-party support on this issue. My point is that even before subsequent developments there was a strong head of steam behind retaining the old names. To add insult to injury, the Scottish regiments—and one has great respect for their traditions—were allowed the same...
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