Armed Forces, Army, Air Force and Naval Discipline Acts (Continuation) Order 2009

My Lords, I thank the Minister for explaining the statutory instruments. We welcome them and the continued attention to discipline, enlistment and other issues in the three services of our Armed Forces. All these orders regulate and affect in some way the working relationship between the Armed Forces and the population as a whole. The first is of fundamental importance, of course, because it is the mechanism whereby the Executive draws authority from Parliament to maintain the Armed Forces for a further year. To debate this issue gives us the opportunity to remind ourselves and the Government that the Armed Forces, although an instrument of the Executive, are in fact a creature of Parliament. With that goes the opportunity to reflect that this is a two-way relationship: Parliament creates the Armed Forces, and that gives us in Parliament the responsibility to ensure that they are properly sustained. Our fellow citizens who serve as members of the Armed Forces are exactly that—members of a lawfully armed and disciplined force. In appropriate circumstances they have to use force, including, as necessary, lethal force—a lawful power to kill; in fact, a duty. It is precisely that body of law that so authorises them and disciplines them in the power and duty that is now before us for our careful consideration. As our Armed Forces are so exceptionally entrusted, do the Government consider it necessary to revise the relationship between our troops and the Human Rights Act? Over the past decade, many senior military professionals have voiced discontent with this legislation being applied in a combat environment. We debated this issue, and the recent Court of Appeal judgment, at Question Time on Monday. As I mentioned then, that judgment is causing serious operational problems for the Armed Forces. Will the Minister undertake to discuss with her colleagues the potential use of the proposed constitutional renewal Bill to include provisions relating to combat zones? I want to call attention to the need for the Armed Forces Act 2006 to be wholly renewed by 2011. What feedback has the Government received from those within the Armed Forces and from other interested parties as a result of the distribution of the Armed Forces manual? Are there any loose ends waiting to be sorted out that might be incorporated in later versions? Will the Minister confirm that her department is giving serious thought—I am sure it is—to the new version of the Armed Forces Act to ensure that it is implemented as smoothly as possible?