MP says sailors banned from criticising '˜terrible' food served at HMS Sultan in Gosport

Tim Loughton told the House of Commons that personnel at the Gosport shore base and other naval sites have been given the restriction because of the high level of complaints over the food.

Comments about the meals at the base, off Military Road, can be found on Twitter with sailors complaining it is ‘terrible’ and ‘brutal.’

Mr Loughton, the Tory MP East Worthing and Shoreham, said the volume of complaints was so high, sailors had been banned from online criticism.

He asked defence minister Mark Lancaster: ‘Are you aware that the standard of food for the military at HMS Sultan and other similar naval establishments has become the source of such complaints that service personnel have been banned from taking photographs and using social media to critique it?

‘What are you doing to make sure our servicemen and women are being properly looked after in such a basic area as food?’

Mr Lancaster replied: ‘Defence personnel are offered core meals covering breakfast, lunch and dinner with set calorific and nutritional standards, and this includes unlimited access to carbohydrates and vegetables.’