One of the many challenges of being an MP is being informed on the debates and current themes of the day. We have available to us huge resources from the House of Commons Library through to many organisations who are keen to let us know of their thoughts and opinions. All of these are incredibly helpful and are very welcome indeed. But sometimes it takes more than simply reading words on a sheet of paper. Sometimes it takes practical, hands on experience to absorb the complexities of certain situations and debates.
One organisation that was set up a number of years ago, and is well subscribed by MPs of all flavours, is the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme. This is an organisation funded from private and corporate sources and gives MPs an opportunity to live the lives of a serving officer in the armed forces.
It does this in a few ways. Firstly, it effectively demotes the MP. MPs are awarded, by military protocol, the privileges associated with a high rank. That, however, precludes them from visiting certain parts of the military organisation so MPs are awarded an effective lower rank to give us the widest access possible.
Secondly, MPs are expected to spend a minimum of 22 days per year serving in their chosen arm of the military. This can be time spent in Afghanistan for those attached to the Army, at sea for those in the Royal Navy, and at an air base for those in the RAF. It is this second element that is the most important. Part of the time is spent training but all of it will be with serving personnel, being actively involved with exercises and spending down-time with soldiers, sailors and airmen. It is this informal element that can give the greatest insight into the concerns and triumphs of those individuals who we, as a country, ask to defend us.
So, earlier this week, 5 of the six Worcestershire MPs gathered together with thirty or so other MPs at the Military Training Academy at Shrivenham to start our training. Harriett Baldwin MP and Robin Walker MP are serving with the RAF; Karen Lumley MP and Sajid Javid MP are with the Army; and I have joined with the Royal Navy. Our sixth member in Worcestershire, Peter Luff MP, who is now a Defence Minister, served in the AFPS some years ago.
It is an incredibly important and useful scheme, because when MPs stand up in the Chamber and make speeches about the armed forces, or the military covenant, or debate whether to commit our country to something as final as war, it is important that we know, frankly, what it is we are talking about. And there is no substitute for hands on experience.