Defence Sec Asked Why MOD Paid Hush-money in Abuse Cases

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE DEFENCE SEC ASKED WHY MOD PAID HUSH-MONEY IN ABUSE CASES The Celtic League have written to United Kingdom Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, MP, asking why his Department hushed-up a scandal involving allegations of physical and sexual abuse in the military cadet forces. The full text of the letter is set out below: ?The Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon MP Ministry of Defence Main Building Whitehall Westminster LONDON SW1A 2HB 28th January 2015 Dear Minister, I write with reference to the revelation in late December 2014 that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) have paid over £2 million pounds in out of court settlements (covering a three year period) over alleged physical and sexual abuse in the military cadet forces. Can you advise how long this practice of paying out, what is effectively hush money, to silence abuse allegations has been going on at the Ministry of Defence? You will be aware that your colleague the Home Secretary is currently attempting to establish an enquiry to enquire into historical sexual abuse allegations. That enquiry was prompted in part by the revelations that there had been for many years a ?culture of concealment? surrounding allegations of physical and sexual child abuse. Have you notified your colleague (Mrs May) of the fact that abuse allegations have been suppressed in respect of the cadet forces by your Department for many years? Have the Home Office or your colleague, Mrs May, sought information from you about the payments? Have you invited the Home Office to include the cadet forces in their enquiries? Turning to the allegations for which the MOD has now accepted responsibility and paid out monies. Have these allegations involving the physical and sexual abuse of children been notified to police forces in the areas where they occurred? In what areas of the United Kingdom & dependencies in which the cadet forces operate have allegations of physical or sexual abuse been made over the past 15 years? Do you accept that given the very real concerns over historical abuse (both physical and sexual) were stimulated by the fact that there was a culture of concealment in bodies involved that payments such as those (made in confidence) by the MOD perpetuate that ?culture of concealment?? Does the payment of £2 million pounds by the MOD (and perhaps an equally substantial sum for previous years not revealed) indicate that the MOD accepts that it is responsible for the operational control and safety of military cadet forces? I trust you are able to respond fully to the queries outlined above. I attach a report from the UK guardian newspaper one of a number of media sources which covered this issue. (voir le site) Yours sincerely, J B Moffatt (Mr) Director of Information Celtic League? The League have written separately to UK Home Secretary Theresa May whose Department is currently coordinating an enquiry into historical abuse cases involving children asking what action (if any) they have taken over the MOD pay-outs. See related link here (correspondence to UNCRC): (voir le site) J B Moffatt (Mr) Director of Information 29/01/15 (Please note that replies to correspondence received by the League and posted on CL News are usually scanned hard copies. Obviously every effort is made to ensure the scanning process is accurate but sometimes errors do occur.) ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE. The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on socio-economic issues Internet site at: (voir le site) (voir le site)