Chilcot urged to grill Brown over deployment of Snatch Land Rovers
Chilcot urged to grill Brown over deployment of Snatch Land Rovers
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Thursday, 04, Mar 2010 12:35
By Richard James.
The families of British service personnel killed in poorly armoured Land Rovers have urged the Iraq inquiry to challenge Gordon Brown over his funding for frontline forces.
Mr Brown is due to appear before the inquiry headed by Sir John Chilcot from 10:00 GMT on Friday to discuss his role in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 during his time as chancellor and later as prime minister.
On Wednesday it emerged some of the families who lost loved ones in the Iraq war want the PM to be questioned specifically on why Snatch Land Rovers continued to be used despite alleged evidence they were shown to be inadequate in protecting against roadside bombs.
The Times has published a letter from a lawyer acting on behalf of the mother of Phillip Hewett who died in a roadside blast in 2005.
In a letter to Sir John, Mr Hewitt's mother Susan Smith writes: "We ask that you question Mr Brown about decisions he took as chancellor of the exchequer regarding funding of the Iraq war in light of evidence heard by your inquiry.
"Specifically, was he aware of concerns around the lack of armoured vehicles and did he receive any requests for funding (particularly in the period 1997-2006) to purchase armoured vehicles? What concerns, if any, were raised with him about the use of Snatch Land Rovers?"
The Land Rovers were first used in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and were designed to withstand attacks from projectiles including hand grenades. However since their deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan there has been growing concern they are insufficient to protect against bombs planted at roadsides by insurgents.
More than 30 British service personnel have been killed while patrolling in the vehicles, which have now been replaced by Mastiff armoured vehicles.
Mr Brown has already come in for heavy criticism at the Chilcot inquiry, with the former Ministry of Defence permanent secretary Sir Kevin Tebbit claiming in his evidence session the prime minister had "guillotined" defence spending shortly after the 2003 invasion when serving as chancellor.
Sir Kevin said the financial cuts, equivalent to around £1 billion, meant he was forced to work on an emergency budget, suggesting the Treasury had not wanted the armed forces to receive as much money as they did.
Elsewhere today the Ministry of Defence has been accused of giving "misleading" answers to MPs over its budget.
A report from the Commons defence select committee said MoD responses over questions about a £21 billion funding gap had been "at best confused and unhelpful, at worst deliberately obstructive".