Member

Clause 30 deals with the Armed Forces Commissioner. It is worthwhile remembering why we have one: there was pressure to have some sort of representation of serving people, which was wisely resisted by the Government, and the Armed Forces Commissioner was a sort of compromise. The commissioner is there to recognise the fact that the men and women of our armed forces do not have trade union representation. That is its purpose. Although the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is very close to my heart—my grandfather served at the beginning of the last century, in its early days, so I am very sympathetic to it, and members of my family have continued to serve in that way—it is nevertheless a civilian merchant operation. I am therefore slightly concerned that this change may confuse the Armed Forces Commissioner and the trade unions, notwithstanding the attempts made in paragraph 4(a) to (c) in proposed new schedule 14ZB to the Armed Forces Commissioner Act 2025 to cover off that ambiguity and that grey area.