Originally Posted by
alfred_the_great
as ever, citation needed.
And as ever, the evidence has been linked to many times, on many threads... and formally published in 2016 and 2019 after MoD cleared the manuscripts.
But if you insist, the last time a Cabinet Secy had the decency to reply to a request that the policy be rescinded, and the record of disciplinary action expunged from offenders' personnel files, in an unreferenced letter dated 28 October 2014 the late Sir Jeremy Heywood said it would be 'inappropriate' to do so. In it, he referred to the previous ruling by his predecessor, Sir Robert Kerslake.
My latest MP also took an interest (Abbey Wood is in his constituency), and on 8 April 2016 asked PUS at the Cabinet Office, Lord Bridges of Headley, for a statement. He did not reply. MP then wrote to Tobias Ellwood MP, then a Defence Minister, on 12 December 2017. Ellwood did not reply either.
So, the current chairman of the Defence Committee, quoted in this recent article, knows of the issue and has remained silent. There'll be reasons for that, not least the historical record, including a notification to civil servants by their Trades Union, Prospect, after an appeal hearing - which was recorded because there were reasonable grounds for believing an offence was going to be committed. Prescient. The chair of the hearing advised the Chief of Defence Procurement to uphold disciplinary action in such cases. He did, in writing, twice. It is these two rulings that Ministers continue to cite and support. There is an unbroken audit trail going back to January 1988. I have most of it, including MoD briefings to PUS, which MoD happily supplied under FoI.
You know why I'm interested. These rulings led directly to the deaths of a number of airmen. As I've said before, you may not like what I say, but it is demonstrably true. And anyone who thinks the rulings are correct, has no respect for the deceased and is seen to support those whose (in)actions were a root cause.
Hope this has been helpful and illuminating. I must admit I had hopes when Captain Johnny Mercer was appointed to the Committee. He has all the evidence, but has also failed to comment, although he acknowledged receipt. However, he is good value in other areas, so I can't be too harsh. But a notorious and well-kent name from past fatal accidents remains, and I doubt whether John Spellar would be keen on the Committee going there, given his involvement in the Mull of Kintyre aftermath. As you know, quite often you have to wait for all participants to leave the field before a change of mind becomes possible. Or perhaps Dominic Cummings might be interested....