Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con): As we discussed in the House the other day, the new arms plot and the reconfiguration of the infantry still leave certain units desperately short of personnel. The 1st Royal Anglian Battalion has fought brilliantly well in Iraq and is returning to the UK, but the 2nd Royal Anglian Battalion has to go to Afghanistan, despite being short. On Monday, you said that the 2nd battalion would have to be augmented with troops from the 1st battalion. Service men and women are very brave, especially the young ones, who will volunteer for anything. Can you assure the House today that you will not be using—
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. The hon. Gentleman is making a rather long intervention, and he must use the correct parliamentary language.
Mike Penning: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Can the Minister assure the House that no one from the 1st battalion will be sent to augment the 2nd battalion's deployment to Afghanistan?
Mr. Ingram: I do not think that I said quite that at Defence questions the other day, but we would need to check the record. What I suggested was that there are willing horses in battalions who sometimes put themselves forward. I also said that we must be very careful not to put under too much strain people who choose to make that decision. We are sensitive to the difficulties involved.
I do not envisage the sort of augmentation suggested by the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning), but I need to be cautious. Certain individuals or specialists may be required to strengthen the battalion posted to Afghanistan. Such things happen, and that is what makes my remarks about reconfiguration and restructuring so important. The reduction in size of the four battalions has led to the creation of 2,500 more posts. Those posts will be taken up by key enablers, who will deal with the problems that arise at the real pinch points. Over time, that will achieve the improvement that we seek in personnel harmony. The picture is not perfect and there is a lot of strain in some areas, but we are actively addressing the problem.
Although I do not envisage that what the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead suggests will happen, he would say that I had misinformed or misled the House if even one person found himself in the situation that he has described. I am very conscious of that and I am sure that the message has been heard outside the House that it is wrong to move people backwards and forwards too quickly. That is what I said on Monday, and I repeat the point now. | 
