Member

I would like to take us back to the apocryphal Mrs Jones cited by the Secretary of State. Most of us will probably know somebody like Mrs Jones. We must not suggest to Mrs Jones that we have a remedy for her—that we can make this right for her. I am afraid that, at the distance of several decades, as the hon. and gallant Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns) said, it is unlikely that we will achieve what she wants. In my profession, the first rule is to do no harm. I fear that in pursuing the measures in this Bill in the way that the Secretary of State proposes, we may very well be doing some harm, in particular to our veteran community and to our national defence. I will go on to explain why.