RAF MP RESPONDS TO NIMROD STATEMENT

RAF MP RESPONDS TO NIMROD STATEMENT

Responding to the Defence Secretary’s statement today (Wednesday) on Nimrod XV230, SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson, Angus Robertson, who represents the Nimrod home base at RAF Kinloss, said he was not yet convinced the MoD had yet resolved the deep seated failings which led to the loss of the aircraft.

Charles Haddon Cave’s independent review into the fatal 2006 Nimrod crash concluded the MoD sacrificed safety to cut costs.

Fourteen crewmen, based at RAF Kinloss in Moray, died when the aircraft blew up after air-to-air refuelling over Afghanistan when leaking fuel made contact with a hot air pipe.

Mr Robertson said:

“The Haddon-Cave report was detailed and hard-hitting and this brief statement from Bob Ainsworth is not enough to satisfy me that the MoD has yet made the wholesale changes in terms of leadership, culture and priorities that are necessary.

“Given this week’s military cuts and the continuing Labour defence privatisation agenda, we need to know how the MoD can even begin to claim that they will get to grips with the deep seated failed culture which led to the loss of Nimrod XV230.

“We have had an inquiry, an inquest, an independent review and now the government’s response to that review. Time and again, Ministers have said lessons would be learned and action taken as a priority. I think we all want to be convinced that the lessons really have been learned and action taken.

“The establishment of a Military Aviation Authority is a welcome move, but we need to see all the detail. The Haddon-Cave report exposed systemic failures in the Ministry of Defence and serious questions about ministerial oversight and responsibility.

“Our service personnel must be able to rely on their equipment being maintained to the highest standards, and their families must feel safe in the knowledge that their loved ones safety is the top priority.

“There must be no repeat of this tragedy. The MoD has to restore confidence in the wake of this verdict.”