To say that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was unfit for purpose would be an understatement, characterised by short-termism, ineptitude, mismanagement and general piss poor performance, its deficiencies and inadequacy are obvious to all but the myopic. One only has to read the findings of the Public Accounts Committee to see the level of this mismanagement and incompetence. In any other organisation these failures would be serious enough, but within the MoD they have led to our Service personnel losing their lives and being maimed unnecessarily. The MoD has entirely failed to provide a Duty of Care to its Service personnel. A prime example of the callousness and insensitivity of the MoD can be found in the recent decision not to award the families of three soldiers killed in Iraq compensation, with the MoD arguing that their right to life under the ECHR Article 2 did not apply to the conflict in Iraq, and that it accepted no responsibility for the lack of equipment provision (see here) The final statement from the MoD is perhaps the most sickening of all “ An MoD spokesman said: “The courts have upheld our arguments on Article 2 of the ECHR. We will be seeking leave to appeal [against] the decision about liability claims for equipment provision.” For many families of those Service personnel injured and killed it will come as no surprise that the MoD has failed once again to provide a Duty of Care.
