Mike Penning: The Minister referred to bullying. I agree that the Army, in particular, should do as much as possible about that, but bullying will be there. One of the areas about that I am worried about is recruit-on-recruit bullying, especially among training regiments. Many years ago, when I came through basic training, there were trained soldiers in the barrack rooms during the night. The Minister is aware of that, and I have also raised this issue with the Secretary of State. If one visits a training regiment these days, as I know the Minister has done, one finds that the instructors go home to their families and loved ones, and there are few experienced soldiers in the barrack rooms at night, and the bullying often takes place when recruits think that they are a little more senior. As so many of our armed forces who have received some minor injuries and some serious injuries still want to stay within the military, surely it would be sensible to bring those experienced soldiers back into phase 1 and phase 2 training to provide the sort of mentoring that we need to stop the bullying.
Mr. Ainsworth: The hon. Gentleman is obviously right; it is as important, and perhaps more so in some instances, to provide a safe environment in our training establishments at night as it is to do so during the training practice that goes on during the day. A big part of doing that lies in getting the estate right; we need to make the configuration of the training accommodation appropriate to a safe environment. He takes a huge interest in this issue, so I commend him to look around some of the new accommodation that is provided at Pirbright, where there is a safe environment that provides people with oversight during the night as well as during training hours. He knows that bringing the defence estate up to an adequate level—I shall return to this point later in my speech—is a massive project that will still take some time, although building has been going for some time. We need to deal with this issue; we need to get our priorities right; and we need to ensure that we eliminate bullying, no matter where it comes from, be that from instructors or peers. In the process of doing so, we must not lose the rigours of the training regime. If we lose those rigours, we will not turn out the people for the highly dangerous environments in which we expect them to work, to stay safe and to stay alive.
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LATER IN THE SAME DEBATE
Mike Penning: I thank my hon. Friend for his generosity in giving way. The all-party Army group organised the parade to which he refers, and it was fantastic to see the band of the Coldstream Guards marching from Wellington barracks. Does my hon. Friend know that, before the troops entered the gates, they were attacked by members of the so-called peace camp across the way? They got into the ranks of the soldiers and swore at and abused them, and there were not enough police to prevent that.
Dr. Lewis: First, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray), who organised the occasion. I am indeed aware of the matter, which has been raised on the Floor of the House previously. Although Parliament is ready to tolerate the presence of demonstrations in Parliament square, the idea that people should be able to camp there permanently and behave insultingly towards those who put their lives at risk shows a cock-eyed sense of values in our society today.
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