Decision to supply enhanced body armour came late, MPs heard

Sir Kevin Tebbit was grilled after Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon faced calls to resign over the issue.

Sir Kevin said 38,000 sets of armour were sent to the Gulf and he was sorry it did not reach every British soldier.

But the decision to use enhanced armour instead of standard flak jackets that were available had come late, he added.

'Arrogance'

Sir Kevin confirmed the equipment may in the future become standard issue for all soldiers.

That move comes after the row over the death of Cornwall-born Sergeant Steve Roberts, who was killed in Iraq days after being ordered to give his body armour to another unit.

If I was a soldier being led by some of the hierarchy I see at this table, I would be bloody worried, to be quite honest Gerry Steinberg Labour MP

Sir Kevin's appearance also came the day before Lieutenant Colonel James Cowan, the commanding officer of Scottish regiment, the Black Watch, told The Scotsman that men were left with a shortage of equipment due to the Government's unwillingness to commit to war until all possible alternatives had been explored.

During a heated Commons public administration committee session, Sir Kevin was forced to deny accusations by Labour's Gerry Steinberg that he was being "arrogant and complacent".

"I think soldiers may have died because of the failures of your department," Mr Steinberg told the civil servant.

"I know it is beneath you to come to this meeting... but you could at least give us the courtesy of answering our questions.

"If I was a soldier being led by some of the hierarchy I see at this table, I would be bloody worried, to be quite honest."

Sir Kevin said it was "completely wrong" to accuse the department of complacency.

Speed problem

The issue of military equipment shortages during the Iraq war came to the fore in a report by the National Audit Office - the public spending watchdog - that praised the overall success of the operation but highlighted some supply problems.

Sir Kevin told MPs the shortfalls were not only down to faults in the systems for tracking supplies once they were sent out to the Gulf, but also the speed with which troops were deployed.

The committee heard there were enough sets of standard combat body armour for all troops. but it was only in October 2002 that military commanders decided soldiers should have the enhanced body armour.

Had there been longer to prepare... they would have been able to take more with them Sir Kevin Tebbit

And it was still another month before Mr Hoon finally authorised full military preparations, Sir Kevin said.

Changes to the battle plan, especially the decision not to enter Iraq through northern Turkey, had also added to the logistical challenges, the MPs heard.

Sir Kevin urged people to wait until boards of inquiry reported before judging on the deaths of individual soldiers. But he was "gravely concerned and sorry" the enhanced kit did not reach all soldiers.

Labour's Alan Williams also suggested the fact that some tank units did not have filters against chemical and biological weapons was a "damning indictment" of a department sending people into war.

The MPs were told that some units did receive the filters but chose not to fit them to their vehicles.

Questioned by another MPs' committee on Wednesday, deputy chief of defence staff Lieutenant General Anthony Palmer denied kit shortages had severely hit troops' morale.

Asset tracking

Speaking later to BBC News, Paul Tyler, the north Cornwall Liberal Democrat MP who has been supporting Samantha Roberts, the widow of Sergeant Roberts, said: "It's quite clear that they didn't know what had happened to a large amount of body armour that could have saved lives.

"They haven't got to the bottom of that yet 10 months after the event. The so-called asset tracking is shown to be faulty and not up to the job.

"If the system fails then somebody in the Ministry of Defence is responsible."

Tory shadow defence minister Gerald Howarth said the reason ministers had not wanted to send the extra kit necessary was because they did not want to "send signals" to Labour MPs opposed to the conflict.