16.3 | Military fatalities and the bereaved

411. The policy was reflected in the first Joint Casualty and Compassionate Policy and

Procedures (JSP 751), which was published in March 2005.275

412. It has become established practice for the Prime Minister and Leader of the

Opposition to pay tribute to fallen Service Personnel at the start of Prime Minister’s

Questions (PMQs). The Inquiry has considered the origins and evolution of this public

commemoration.

413. The first time a Prime Minister offered condolences for the deaths of Service

Personnel in Iraq at PMQs was 2 April 2003. On that day, Mr Blair said he was “sure that

the whole House will want to pass on its sympathies to the families of British Servicemen

who have tragically been killed in the service of their country in the past week. Again, we

pay tribute to their courage and dignity and we pass on our condolences and sympathy

to their families and their friends.”276

414. The practice was repeated a week later, when Mr Blair offered condolences to the

families of all those who had lost their lives in the intervening seven days.277

415. On 25 June, he paid tribute to (but did not name) the Royal Military Police (RMP)

officers who had lost their lives and been injured at Majarr al Kabir the previous day.278

416. On 10 September, as Parliament returned from the summer recess, Mr Blair paid

tribute to the British Servicemen who had lost their lives during the recess.279

417. On 5 November, Mr Blair paid tribute to Corporal Ian Plank of the Royal Marines

who had lost his life the previous week.280 That was the first time a Service person

had been mentioned by name. It is not clear why the decision was taken to name

Corporal Plank.

418. Over the next two years, Mr Blair regularly paid tribute at the beginning of PMQs

to British Servicemen who had lost their lives, but only from April 2006 did the practice

of naming individuals and their regiments become usual.

419. In June 2007, during his last PMQs, Mr Blair described those tributes as “the

saddest of duties”.281

420. The practice was continued by Mr Gordon Brown from July 2007.

275 Paper MOD, 11 July 2005, ‘JSP 751: Joint Casualty and Compassionate Policy’.