My Lords, I thank the Minister for his explanation of the purpose and need for the order. We have this debate on the Armed Forces continuation order each year, and I must say that I am no clearer at present than I was when I was first involved in these debates what would be the implications if the order was not carried.
I do not intend to speak at any length. We support the order and, as the Minister said, we have a separate defence debate in the Chamber next week. However, bearing in mind the wide-ranging nature of the order and the apparent consequences if it was not agreed, it has always seemed to me—if, apparently, to no one else—that consideration of the order each year could be used as the basis for an annual general defence debate in the Chamber. There is, after all, very little, if
anything defence and Armed Forces-wise that it could be argued would not be relevant in a debate on an order which if not agreed calls into question the continuation of our Armed Forces as a disciplined fighting force.
As paragraph 7.1 of the Explanatory Memorandum states, the Armed Forces Act 2006, which the order extends for a further year from 2 November 2015,
“provides nearly all the provisions for the existence of a system for the armed forces of command, discipline and justice … It also contains a large number of other important provisions as to the armed forces, such as provision for enlistment, pay and redress of complaints”.
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Paragraph 7.3 of the Explanatory Memorandum states:
“The central effect of expiry of the 2006 Act would be to end the powers and provisions to maintain the armed forces as disciplined bodies”.
I take this opportunity to ask the Minister: what precisely are the implications of paragraph 7.4 of the Explanatory Memorandum? Paragraph 7.4 says:
“The requirement for renewal (under Section 382 of the 2006 Act) is based on the assertion in the Bill of Rights 1688 that the Army (and by extension now the RAF and the Royal Navy) may not be maintained within the Kingdom without the consent of Parliament”.
Does that mean that if this order is not agreed by Parliament before the end of 2 November 2015, there is either no statutory authority or only limited statutory authority for the continued maintenance of our Armed Forces? If that is the case, does that mean that any or some actions within or by our Armed Forces would be outside the law? For example, could our Armed Forces still take lawful military action or lawfully incur current levels of expenditure if this order extending the 2006 Act is not agreed by Parliament within the required timescale? Further, what in practical and legal terms does the statement mean at the end of paragraph 7.3 of the Explanatory Memorandum that:
“If the 2006 Act were to expire, members of the Armed Forces would still owe a duty of allegiance to Her Majesty”,
in the light of the statement in paragraph 7.4 to which I have already referred? Would the consent of Parliament have been withdrawn if this order was not agreed by Parliament and the 2006 Act expired as a consequence, and what in practical terms would the reference in paragraph 7.3 to our Armed Forces owing,
“a duty of allegiance to Her Majesty”,
actually mean in those circumstances?