The Queen’s Forces

The men and women of both Her Majesty’s Armed Forces and the Wiltshire Constabulary owe their loyalty to Her Majesty – not to the Government or the County Council. It is this constitutional separation from direct political control that gives enormous strength to both services – and makes both the envy of the world.

Roots
The historical roots of the military and our police run so deep and are so intertwined with our communities in South Wiltshire that it is sometimes necessary to remind ourselves what they are for – and why we need to fund both properly (which we currently do not). We owe them respect for their professionalism and achievements (which some people forget and about which others have never been taught).

We British are a belligerent people. We fought over our green and pleasant land for some two thousand years. The Romans conquered us, whetted our appetite for civilisation – and left. The Normans (who were actually Norwegian) conquered us, liked us and stayed. Never again would we be invaded. Our energy would be turned to other lands and peoples. We have exported our language, our system of government, our law and our religion to all corners of the earth. When we withdrew from empire, much of our influence stayed put. We learned to fight for values, not territory.

Our national interest
Both our Police and our Military defend our homeland – but the threat from military invasion by force has reduced as the challenge of homeland security has grown in so many ways. The first duty of any Government must be defence of the realm. The first question any Government should ask before deploying troops or resources is what is in the national interest.

Sometimes the answer is quite easy – as in ejecting Argentinean invaders from the Falklands. Often it is difficult and complicated – as in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, and Darfur. We have NATO commitments, United Nations obligations, and European partnerships. We also have complex and difficult emotional ties with all parts of the world, which need to be nurtured as well as respected (Canada, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong).

The Military Covenant
All three armed services are essential to the well-being of the UK. The Royal Navy will always be needed to protect our coastline and our interests abroad. Over ninety percent of our goods come to the UK by sea – and the RN must have a powerful global reach. Computers from China, tea from India, fruit from South Africa and the Caribbean – all those ships need secure passage and protection as do our exports. Our world-class country demands global strength.

The RAF will always be needed to operate the weapons platforms (aircraft) whether flown by people or computers. The Army must be prepared to fight high intensity warfare and then be the best peace-enforcer and peace-keeper in the world.

As a nation, we have an unwritten covenant with our Armed Forces and their families. Unless Government priorities change and unless we are prepared to insist on an increasing defence budget, we will break that Covenant with the people who have made us great and on whom our well-being and nationhood ultimately depend.

Primus et Optimus
First and best – that is what we have come to expect of our Wiltshire Police. In recent weeks they have taken a pasting. It is now time to draw a line and start again. So what went wrong?

We stopped plans to amalgamate our County Constabularies into one mega force for the whole South-West of England. The price we had to pay was more than a reorganisation – it was a revolution in policing. I think the trouble was, someone forgot to tell our police on the ground, the civilian support staff and we who pay for it and rely on the police service, just what was going on.

We were told there would be more civilian support staff (true) and better technology (untrue). Still the police didn’t answer the phone. Still police radios didn’t work in the villages.

We were promised better telephone service – but they didn’t buy the call-centre kit. We were assured it didn’t matter moving Divisional HQ to Melksham – it did. Wilton Road became ‘office hours only’ and police response in villages and farms nearly disappeared.

It took an urgent reappraisal of police people and resources to discover what was wrong. Bad habits had crept in. Operational processes and regulations were exposed as unfit for purpose. Partnerships between police and other agencies atrophied. Worst of all, the men and women of our police service became disillusioned and demotivated. This has been explained to me, with considerable humility, by our excellent Chief Constable and his very determined senior officers.

We are going to see changes. Wilton Road Police Station will be open seven days a week – and it now has a letterbox! Neighbourhood policing will be just that – and if an incident occurs they’ll get on with their job while a ‘flying squad’ of specialists arrives to deal with the incident or accident.

Policing today’s “24/7” communities requires partnership with local councils, too. That has been lacking. If we want to reclaim the night-time streets of central Salisbury at weekends, the Council (whichever it is) must crack down on alcohol and entertainment licensing and introduce ‘Taxi Marshals’ to help the police. All of us must now rebuild trust in and respect for our police – and they will respond by giving us the safe and secure society to which we all aspire.

Robert Key MP