GEOFF HOON DELAYED ORDER OF BODY AMOUR

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 11th Jan 2007

Liberal Democrat Sam Potts, today questioned the Government decisions which led to the death of Sergeant Roberts in Iraq, in the House of Lords.

During the exchange, Defence Minister, Lord Drayson admitted that Geoff Hoon, then Secretary of State for Defence, took the decision to delay ordering the additional protective armour that would have saved the soldier's life.

Lord Drayson said that delaying orders for the vital Enhanced Combat Body Armour (ECBA) sets was "the right decision". He said: "To order substantial numbers beyond the number that was held at the time would have sent a clear signal." Lord Drayson claimed that ordering further sets of ECBA would have endangered the diplomatic efforts at the UN.

Commenting, Sam Potts said:

"As several Peers indicated, it is complete nonsense to suggest that ordering vital equipment to protect troops would have undermined efforts to put pressure on Saddam Hussein.

"Ministers should have been determined to impress on Saddam the inevitability of military action if he did not co-operate.

"The Minister appeared to suggest that a decision by the Secretary of State on spurious diplomatic grounds was not 'political' - how ludicrous."

ENDS