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Thursday, 18 October 2007

Liar, fool or politician (part 3)

I blogged earlier today about Des Browne's confused answer to Liam Fox regarding whether troops in Kuwait would get the extra allowance so recently announced. Now I read at Iain Dale that "Well I'm told that the MoD has reached panic stations over this and they don't know how they are going to extricate Dessy from the mire that he has created for himself. They even arranged a meeting with the Treasury who were expected to cough up the extra dosh. I suspect we can all imagine the Treasury's response." The House of Lords debate today has muddied the waters still further - "Lord Astor of Hever: ... Two days ago in the other place, my honourable friend the shadow Defence Secretary raised concerns that personnel serving in Kuwait on Operation TELIC are not entitled to the operational bonus. The Secretary of State said that this was not true, yet a Written Answer sent last December to the Member for the Forest of Dean stated: “The specified qualifying locations for the operational allowance are the geographical boundaries of Iraq”.—[Official Report, Commons, 12/12/06; col. 933W.] Can the Minister clear up this confusion? Are all personnel serving in Kuwait and the Gulf entitled, like their American counterparts, to the operational bonus? If not, are Her Majesty’s Government looking at ways in which this could be rectified?
Lord Drayson: My Lords, I should point out that we have not specified the location of the support troops that we have in the region down to a particular country, so I cannot comment on the location of troops in Kuwait or other places, but I shall certainly be able to look further into the noble Lord’s point on the definition of the operational bonus. I will write to him and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House."

Is there a book on which of Gordon's cabinet ministers will be the first to have to resign?

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