Veterans Minister Andrew Robathan has told MPs that military personnel have a tendency of “not complaining”, in a discussion about the future of the military covenant.
Certainly they complain less than the rest of the general public, according to the ex-soldier turned politician, saying: “people are more willing to complain than they used to be.
"The Prime Minister gets a lot of these complaints sent directly to him, which I find sometimes to be slightly unusual that Mrs Bloggins would write to him to complain about her leaking tap.”
Robathan was being questioned by MPs on the government’s commitment to the armed forces and military families.
The minister came under fierce criticism from members of the Defence Select Committee for the “disgrace” of military personnel living in “cramped conditions”. He initially claimed that “people’s ambitions are greater than when I was 18 years old”, before playing down concerns over unsatisfactory living standards:
“[They] just get their heads down and get on with it. They are less concerned than we might imagine with exactly how they’re looked after,” he said. “Not everyone is appalled by the idea of sharing a room or that there may not have been a lick of paint in the last few years.”
Robathan admitted that the process of managing accommodation for armed services personnel “will never be perfect”. “It’s like painting the Forth Rail Bridge, it goes on and on,” he said. The “very difficult and indeed dire financial situation” was to blame for defence cuts, according to Robathan.
Some MPs were surprised by Robathan’s sudden declaration: “I think it’d be jolly nice if you could get the Treasury to give us more money.” He insisted that he was not speaking in an official capacity.
The three-year upgrade pause for Service Family Accomodation (SFA) homes , according to Robathan, “may be a false economy”. He added, “what I would revel in is that after all this pain. We are in a position where the defence budget is balanced broadly”.
Robathan praised the MoD’s financial management, contrasting it with the “ethos in some departments where they say we’ll balance the books later but not now.”
The veterans minister was rather surprised by the committee after he described the MoD as a “well oiled machine”. Robathan was left asking: “Why are you laughing?!”