Extract from a statement made my Mr. Don Touhig (Islwyn) (Lab/Co-op) during the Armed Forces Personnel Debate, House of Commons, 6 July 2006

Mr Don Touhig:

"It is important that we celebrate and raise awareness of the achievements and contributions of our veterans, both at home and abroad, but we can do more. I want to refer to one matter in particular this afternoon.

It was heartening to see that the contribution of our veterans is being recognised abroad, with the award of the Pingat Jasa medal by the Malaysian Government. I welcome the decision by Her Majesty the Queen to grant permission for the 35,000 veterans who took part in operations in Malaya to receive the PJM medal, but I am concerned that they have not been granted permission to wear it. In a written statement on 31 January, the then Minister for Trade, my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley, South (Ian Pearson), who is now Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, said:

“The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals...has recommended that an exception to two of the long-established rules governing the accepting and wearing of foreign...awards to enable the Malaysian Government to present the PJM.”

However, the statement went on to say that permission to wear the PJM was not given because:

“It is long standing Government policy that non-British medals will not be approved for events or service that took place more than five years before initial consideration, or in connection with events that to ok place in the distant past”,

or

“if the recipient has received a British award for the same service”.—[ Official Report, 31 January 2006; Vol. 442,c. 10-11WS.]

The decision to forgo the “double-medalling” and five-year rules so that the PJM could be awarded in the first place, but then to use the same rules to deny veterans the opportunity to wear it, is both confusing and mystifying. Most people would think that fairness and common sense dictate that our veterans, having been given permission to accept the PJM, should be allowed to wear it. However, my mother used to say to me when I was growing up, “Son, you will find out in life that sense is not that common.” I think that that is true in respect of the PJM.

Further complicating the decision is the fact that the Commonwealth Governments in Australia and New Zealand have advised Her Majesty the Queen to grant unrestricted use of the PJM and allow their veterans to accept and wear the medal on all occasions. The ethos behind the first veterans day was to thank all the veterans who had served in our armed forces. In presenting the PJM, the Malaysian Government are thanking the 35,000 veterans who served in operations in that country. It seems decidedly odd that, although we in this country thank our veterans for their service and celebrate their achievements, veterans of the Malaysian operations are unable to wear the PJM. It is for that reason that I fully support the campaign to enable those who served in Malaya to wear the medal. I know that the veterans have petitioned Her Majesty the Queen on the matter, although she is not to be blamed for the decision. In our constitutional monarchy, the sovereign acts on the advice of Ministers and others—in this case the honours committee.

I hope that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, who has responsibility for veterans, will be their champion. I know that he is determined to be, but I hope that he will press those who advise the Queen to review the situation. I should be grateful if he said that he is prepared to do so."

Copyright Hansard, 6 July 2006 (Cols 1023-1024)