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A Snatch Land Rover vehicle on patrol. Photograph: John D Mchugh/AFP/Getty

The defence secretary has apologised to families of British soldiers killed while travelling in Snatch Land Rovers for delays in replacing the lightly armoured vehicles.

In the letter to families seen by the BBC, Michael Fallon said bringing better protected vehicles into service could have saved lives.

Among the recipients of the letter was Sue Smith, whose son, Pte Phillip Hewett, 21, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, died in July 2005 after the Snatch Land Rover he was travelling in was blown up in Amara, south-east Iraq.

Last year the Chilcot inquiry found a string of Ministry of Defence failings in the preparation for the Iraq war, including a delay in replacing the lightly armoured Snatch Land Rovers, which are vulnerable to bombs.

A number of families, including Smiths, have been given the go-ahead to bring compensation claims against the government under legislation covering negligence and human rights.

Fallon wrote to Smith to express his regret at Hewetts death. I am fully aware of the struggle you have had to bring this matter to court over the last decade and I recognise that this has had a significant impact on you and your family, he wrote.

The government entirely accepts the findings of Sir John Chilcot in the Iraq inquiry in relation to Snatch Land Rover.

I would like to express directly to you my deepest sympathies and apologise for the delay, resulting in decisions taken at the time in bringing into service alternative protected vehicles which could have saved lives.

He goes on to say that lessons have been learned, adding: The government must and will ensure that our armed forces are always properly equipped and resourced.

Smith told the BBC the apology was bittersweet, adding: Id like it to be that his death made a difference. Hes not just a casualty of Iraq.

Jocelyn Cockburn, lawyer for the families, said: The Ministry of Defences stance of delay, deny and defend has caused untold suffering to already grief-stricken families over a needlessly long period.

However, I am relieved that their battle is over and genuinely hope that their apology signals a sea change in the way the MoD seeks to deal with bereaved service families.

An MoD spokeswoman said: We offer our deepest sympathies and apologise for the delay in bringing into service alternative protected vehicles which could have saved lives. The government acknowledges and fully accepts the findings of Sir John Chilcots inquiry in relation to Snatch Land Rovers.

Our armed forces now use a number of highly capable and extremely well-protected patrol vehicles, including Mastiff, Ridgback, Husky and Wolfhound.

Gen Sir Mike Jackson, chief of the general staff between 2003 and 2006, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme it was a fair assumption that a more heavily armoured vehicle would have offered much better protection for British troops.

He said he believed replacements for the Snatch Land Rover could have been brought in more quickly, adding: The army at that point did not have its own procurement budget. It does now, and perhaps that is one of the good lessons learned thats come out of this whole rather sorry story: we do have our own procurement budget now.

Yes, better vehicles, better-protected vehicles were eventually procured, but the process was rather byzantine and inevitably, thereby, lengthy.

Link:
Fallon apologises to families of soldiers killed in Land Rovers in Iraq - The Guardian