This is off-topic but I hope you will bear with me ...

Every day we hear how the British Government lets down our Armed Forces - lack of appropriate kit, dodgy ammo, vulnerable care for the wounded and so on.

If you hear, read or watch any such stories, please post them here.

I'll start the ball rolling on a seasonal issue. Parcels to our Forces abroad.

I saw this the Bolton News - a paper that supports our Fight4thePJM campaign http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/boltonnews/display.var.1021927.0.christmas_parcels_plea_for_soldiers.php


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BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia

You'd have thought that a web site supportoursoldiere would be superfluous in this country ... actually, it's more relevant today than ever before.

Please visit them: http://www.supportoursoldiers.co.uk/ and http://www.supportoursoldiers.co.uk/scotland.html

While there, why not leave a message of support.

Thanks.

Barry[/url]


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BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia

WAR PENSIONS

This is a pet subject of mine as I am in receipt of one, but if anyone on here has had a run in with the Vets Agency at Norcross Blackpool, then you have my sympathy. I did and had to appeal to The High Court in London to get an unfair decision overturned. I'm not about to discuss any ones private injuries/illnesses on an open forum but if you have had a problem or think you might have a claim please send me a Private Message (PM) as I may be able to help, as the MoD did not help me, The Bastids!


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John Cooper wrote:

WAR PENSIONS

This is a pet subject of mine as I am in receipt of one, but if anyone on here has had a run in with the Vets Agency at Norcross Blackpool, then you have my sympathy. I did and had to appeal to The High Court in London to get an unfair decision overturned. I'm not about to discuss any ones private injuries/illnesses on an open forum but if you have had a problem or think you might have a claim please send me a Private Message (PM) as I may be able to help, as the MoD did not help me, The Bastids!

John,

You are likely to receive a lot of PMs! Unhappily.

A request to responders - please use the Private Message System when contacting John. This Topic is specifically for posts with or relating to media links only in order to obtain the widest possible coverage with minimum posts ... otherwise key media links will become buried.

But don't hesitate to write to John. Click on PM below.

Barry


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BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia

BarryF wrote:

John,

You are likely to receive a lot of PMs! Unhappily.

A request to responders - please use the Private Message System when contacting John. This Topic is specifically for posts with or relating to media links only in order to obtain the widest possible coverage with minimum posts ... otherwise key media links will become buried.

But don't hesitate to write to John. Click on PM below.

Barry

Just to be a little more specific, I am including recent conflicts here in Afghanistan, Iraq etc as the media have been highlighting the return of some of our lads to Selly Oak Hospital and the way they have been treated. I am not out to start a campaign but I know what it is like to suffer from PTSD , hearing loss etc as I have suffered for over 40 years. So if I can help in anyway, however small, then tell me and don't keep it to yourselves. Together we can right a wrong, count on it!


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John Cooper wrote:

Just to be a little more specific, I am including recent conflicts here in Afghanistan, Iraq etc as the media have been highlighting the return of some of our lads to Selly Oak Hospital and the way they have been treated. I am not out to start a campaign but I know what it is like to suffer from PTSD , hearing loss etc as I have suffered for over 40 years. So if I can help in anyway, however small, then tell me and don't keep it to yourselves. Together we can right a wrong, count on it!

I think it was mcdangle who reported on the TV program about the treatment of our wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan and, very importantly, the way wounded ex-servicemen are dumped as quickly as possible after they are discharged, and having to pay for their own treatment!

It all beggars belief. And what is happening to today's men and women is also happening to us. The issues for us are not life-threatening but they emanate from the same discredited Government.

We are all in the same fight.

Barry


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BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia

What gets me Barry is you feel you have to grovel, that is something I would never do, I never have and never will, I have always fought my own corner, not always won but been in the thick of it at all times. I have had many wrongs inflicted on me from the MoD and many I have righted, I have always involved the media and without them on side you don't win and as I have said in previous posts get your local/regional newspapers to highlight your cause, they are only too willing to help. Be in it, to win it!


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Here is someone I have known for three years I guess, through the internet, don't take my word for this story take Dave's word

http://www.duckingstool.com/


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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=417603&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true#StartComments

Barry, John,

Here is a story that was in the Daily Mail, which a few day ago I posted on Gnr Thornton's Regimental forum. Surprisingly there has only been 2 comments redarding that posting. This is a Regiment that has been very heavily involved in both Iraq and Afghanistan where they have suffered several fatalities.

I have also posted our link and messages re. the PJM there, again with hardly any responce. I am puzzled but perhaps the silence could be because todays soldiers are under so much pressure these days due to their reduced numbers.

I live in Australia but I like to keep up to date with happenings in the UK. However, I haven't seen the TV program re. medical treatment for the wounded but I have read some stories about it and it seems to me that once servicemen have passed their "use by" date this government will give them a Vets badge,......... and if they are lucky a pittance as a pension if they have served long enough,......... and then they will dump them.......and they seem to think that is OK.


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KenN

Another, this time regarding a Bootie, I'm sad to say.............

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/6187414.stm


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..........and another blunder, this time from the MoD

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6160189.stm


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One of our members on the forum has asked to see some Official Documents relating to The PJM under The Freedom of Information Act 2000 and it was suggested that to have copies could cost up to £600 but this is sinking to the depths of pond life in todays Daily Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/05/ninquest05.xml


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In my fight for the PJM I have been asked twice for £600 for documents.
this is the maximum they are allowed to charge BUT THEY NEVER CHARGE LESS THAN THIS.

The following in todays Daily Telegraph. A similar article is also in the Daily Mail. This shows the complete lack of sensitivity on the part of the Government for the grieving relatives of those killed in action.

Hamish


Families face huge bills for soldiers' inquests
By Graeme Wilson, Political Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:53am GMT 05/12/2006

Families of troops killed in Iraq have been forced to spend hundreds of pounds to buy documents during the inquests into their deaths, a Government minister admitted last night.

In one case, the father of a soldier who was killed while serving his country had to hand over £600 to get access to official papers about the circumstances surrounding his son's death.

The charges imposed on grieving relatives were revealed yesterday by Harriet Harman, the constitutional affairs minister, after she held a private meeting with the families of 11 servicemen and women who died in Iraq.

advertisementMiss Harman conceded she had been surprised to be told that families had been asked to pay for documents. She said relatives at the meeting had told her they had been given some of the documents relating to the deaths but noticed that the coroner and Ministry of Defence lawyers had huge sheaves of additional papers.

"They were told that if they wanted that pile of documents they had to pay by the page. One man said he had had to pay £600," she said.

"We have to look into this. Nobody at the meeting thought it was fair that families were having to pay for documents that the coroner and the Army have got."

It is understood the documents involved include the bundle of reports, inquiries and statements that are collated by the coroners office before an inquest. It is believed the charges levied on families included the cost of photocopying carried out by the coroner's officials.

The charges were condemned last night by Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was serving in the 1 Bn The Royal Highland Fusiliers when he was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004. Mrs Gentle was told yesterday that his inquest will finally be held in March 2007. "I think it is absolutely scandalous that the families should be asked to pay for these documents. Haven't they been through enough already without being asked to pay out like this?" she said.

"I would hope the Government will step in and sort this out. We can't have a situation where relatives are handing over hundreds of pounds."

There was also criticism from Andrew Burgin, spokesman for the Military Families Against the War campaign group.

"This is completely wrong. I can barely believe that they are charging families money to see the official documents relating to the circumstances surrounding the death of their loved ones. These sorts of documents should be made freely available," he said.

Mark Harper, the shadow defence minister, said it was vital that ministers took swift action to tackle the problem.

"These families have already suffered the loss of a loved one and every step must be taken to ensure the inquest process is as smooth as possible," he said.

News of the charges are the latest blow for families who have been forced to wait years for an inquest into the deaths of service personnel killed in Iraq.

Ministers originally pledged to tackle the delays after The Daily Telegraph revealed in May that there was a backlog of around 60 inquests, some dating back to the first days of the Iraq war in March 2003.

The problem built up because the bodies of soldiers are usually flown into RAF Brize Norton, Oxon, which meant their inquests have to be heard by Sir Nicholas Gardiner, the Oxfordshire coroner.

Miss Harman responded by appointing three extra coroners to help Sir Nicholas handle the cases. But by October the backlog of inquests into deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan had almost doubled to 111 and still included around two dozen dating from 2003.