Fox: We owe enormous obligation to our armed forces
Defence secretary Liam Fox announces news of the new military covenant and the plan to enshrine it into law to the Commons:
“The government has no higher duty than the defence of the realm, and the nation has no greater obligation than to look after those who have served it.
“The men and women of the three services, regulars and reservists, whether they are serving today or have done so in the past, their families and those who have lost a loved one in service – all deserve our support and respect.
“That obligation is encapsulated in the armed forces covenant.
“The ties between the nation, its government, and its armed forces are not the product of rules and regulations, nor of political fashion.
“They are much deeper than that. They have endured for generations and they go to the heart of our national life.
“So the armed forces covenant does not need to be a long and detailed charter. It should be a simple and timeless statement of the moral obligation that we owe.
“We are therefore publishing today a new version of the covenant, written for the first time on a tri-service basis.”
