SNP MP Angus Robertson has described the appointment of former Defence Secretary, John Reid, to a lucrative appointment with G4S the Security firm as "totally inappropriate".

G4S was awarded a major Ministry of Defence contract to provide training to British Army units heading for Iraq and Afghanistan just over a year ago. It also has a specialist offshoot business which offers the services of former British Gurkha troops to private contractors.

Mr Robertson said;

"Entering the war in Iraq was the worst UK foreign policy decision in living memory. Our brave troops have had to pay the price of an illegal conflict and now it appears former Defence Secretaries are reaping personal financial rewards."

It is not the first time that Reid has been at the centre of controversy. The gaffe-prone Minister famously remarked that British troops sent to Afghanistan's Helmand province would leave without firing a shot. So far 138 military personnel have died, 111 have been killed in action.

Reid also infamously supported the two Scots Guardsmen convicted of the murder of north Belfast teenager, Peter McBride. A decision by his Ministry to allow Mark Wright and James Fisher to stay in the British Army sparked an angry reaction from the McBride family and nationalist politicians in Ireland.

However, Reid was not so forgiving of other service personnel. Despite increasing evidence of systems defects (along with other Defence Ministers) he refused to overturn an RAF gross negligence verdict on two dead RAF Chinook pilots after the 1994 Kintyre crash in which 29 people died.

Reid's appointment to G4S is certain to reopen the debate about lucrative consultancies awarded to former government Ministers.

J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League 11/01/09

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