Gulf fiasco may hit recruitment to the services

Cover-up: Soames and Howe criticised by MPs

The Ministry of Defence was warned yesterday that its treatment of sick Gulf veterans may have seriously undermined attempts to persuade future generations to join the armed services.

In a highly critical report, the Commons Defence Committee was scathing of the MoD's cover-up of the use of dangerous organophosphate pesticides in the war. The cross-party committee of MPs castigated Nicholas Soames, the Armed Forces Minister, and Earl Howe, the Junior Defence Minister, for their failure to take a more "pro-active and inquisitive" role in the affair.

The report also raised the prospect of ex-gratia compensation payments for sick veterans who can prove they were exposed to OP pesticides in the war. More than 1,100 Gulf veterans are claiming that organophosphate poisoning might be one of the causes behind Gulf War Syndrome.The MPs blamed the "instinctive defensiveness and insularity" of the MoD for the pesticides cover-up but called for an amnesty for officials who took part.

The RAF's Special Investigation Bureau is questioning service personnel and civil servants on how Parliament was misled and the MPs are anxious that the inquiry does not lead to a further cover-up.

"The abandonment of disciplinary proceedings for anything less than serious misconduct might be justified if it would facilitate such disclosure," said the report.

The Gulf Veterans' and Families' Association criticised the amnesty saying that all those involved in the cover-up should be disciplined.

The key office being scrutinised by the MoD is that of the Surgeon-General, but the MPs said they could not be sure that ministers were not to blame.

The committee's deputy chairman, Labour MP Bruce George, said: "The blaming of lower ranking civil servants and military personnel for not providing the right advice to ministers is an attempt to divert attention away from the inaction and possibly culpable behaviour of those higher in the MoD hierarchy."

The report concludes that the cover-up may have jeopardised recruitment to the armed services. "Serving personnel will be following events closely and making a judgment as to how well the department looks after its employees," it said.

"Even more important in the long-term is the potential damage to the ideal of serving one's country."