The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair was condemned yesterday for refusing to call an independent public inquiry into the deaths of soldiers in questionable circumstances in military bases.
Mr Blair was accused of "turning a blind-eye to bullying and its deadly consequences" within the armed forces. Mr Blair has turned down a request from Iris Robinson, Democratic Unionist Party MP for Strangford, for an inquiry into the deaths of soldiers in non-normal circumstances in UK Army barracks since 1990.
In a written answer to a question from Mrs Robinson, the Prime Minister said it would be "inappropriate" to undertake such an inquiry while the current police investigations into soldiers' deaths at the Deepcut base in Surrey continued.
But in an angry response Mrs Robinson said the number of deaths of soldiers in non-normal circumstances was "quite shocking". There had been 13 alone in Northern Ireland barracks since 1994.
Figures released by the Ministry of Defence in July this year showed there had been 1,748 deaths among members of the armed forces through "non-natural causes" either in or in the vicinity of military property since 1990.
Mrs Robinson said the Prime Minister's decision to deny parents full and open information into their children's deaths is extremely sad.