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Mike Hancock Calls for WWII Arctic Campaign Recognition
Mike Hancock, MP (Lib Dem - Portsmouth South) yesterday questioned Andrew Robathan, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, on the decision of the MoD not to award Arctic Campaign medals to Naval Veterans.
The arctic convoys carried over four million tons of essential supplies and munitions to Russia between 1941 and 1945 to aid in the struggle against Germany. It is believed Germany would otherwise have been able to win the fight against the Russians on its Eastern border and concentrate solely on its campaign against Britain.
The questions came during an adjournment debate in Westminster Hall which has been secured by Gosport MP, Caroline Dinenage. Mike said (from Hansard) "I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. Like others, I congratulate her on successfully securing the debate. She said that there were two words that she wanted to talk about. There are two other words that, unfortunately, have not been taken on board by the Government. One is gratitude-the gratitude of the nation to these men.
The other is obligation-the obligation that successive Governments have refused to take up to honour these men with the medal they deserve. The Minister's outburst belittled the importance of this debate, and I regret that he chose to make those statements. I believe that "obligation" and "gratitude" are the two things that the nation now needs to show these men while they are still alive."
Mike went further and questioned whether Ms Dinenage, who also supports the campaign, could think of any person, other than successive Ministers at the MoD, that was against giving the medal, to which she also could not. The debate was attended not only by members of the press but also many veterans who were extremely interested in the Minister's comments, including Commander Eddie Grenfell, 91, from Portsmouth, whose ship the SS Empire Lawrence was destroyed in 1942. Mike has also written to Prime Minister David Cameron to ask him to meet himself and Commander Grenfell to discuss the situation.
After the debate Mike said: "The decision by the MoD not to award these medals is shameful. I could not believe the answers coming from the Minister, they were frankly offensive and he showed absolutely no appreciation for what these man had been through or the recognition they clearly deserve."
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