Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme

The scheme was created more than 20 years ago by Sir Neil Thorne, a former Conservative MP. Its aim is to improve the quality of parliamentary debate on defence issues by giving MPs and peers some first-hand experience of the armed forces. Last week Thorne said that Carswell was free to criticise who he liked. But the MP’s membership was withdrawn after he suggested that defence companies were attempting to buy influence in parliament by giving money to the scheme.

“I haven’t gone to all this trouble to build something up over 20 years to have it destroyed because somebody insists on dragging the AFPS name through the mud,” Thorne said. Carswell, 37, joined the armed forces scheme two years ago. He was given an honorary rank and was expected to wear a uniform while on visits to war zones. During the Kandahar trip in March 2007, he had a conversation with an RAF member about an “ancient” grounded Lynx helicopter. He was told that many Lynx craft were not compatible with the Afghan heat.

Back in the UK, the MP learnt that the MoD could have replaced the Lynx with US Black Hawk helicopters, but had already committed to a new Lynx generation apparently costing twice as much. The Lynx are to be made in Britain by AgustaWestland, one of the three defence companies sponsoring the armed forces scheme. They each give £45,000 a year. “The defence budget is being spent in the interests of some contractors, not our armed forces,” Carswell claimed.