Friday 5 March 2010

Lives on The Line - fairness for the wounded

A campaign has been launched to put right yet another injustice in the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).

As it stands, those injured during the first four years of the War on Terror, i.e between 2001 and 2005, receive considerably less compensation than that paid out to those injured later in the war.

At least 100 service personnel seriously injured at the start of the campaigns receive virtually nothing, £150 a week if they're lucky.

As the campaign says: "Fairness dictates that, given the sacrifices made by British troops in service of our country in Afghanistan and Iraq, each soldier seriously injured in these theatres should benefit from the same compensation arrangements, enabling them a decent on-going quality of life".

The campaign is being headed by Col. Richard Kemp, former Royal Anglian and former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, and supported by the Daily Telegraph newspaper which has for some time been running its own campaign "Justice for Wounded" seeking fairness in the AFCS.

Although the government has recently been forced to make improvements in the compensation awarded under the AFCS, it has failed to provide adequate compensation for all those injured in the war. As Col Kemp says: "The arbitrary date chosen by the MoD means that soldiers who have been left severely disabled while fighting for their country have been left far less able to rebuild their lives than comrades in the same battle zones".

The country has asked these brave men and women to put their lives on the line for us, it is morally indefensible not to pay them fair compensation for the injuries they received when doing so.

To bring pressure on the government to recognise the sacrifices made by all of those seriously injured in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, sign the petition at Number10: Lives on the Line

The Telegraph: Former Afghanistan commander accuses ministers over 'shameful' compensation for injured soldiers

Facebook: Lives on the Line

The Telegraph: Justice for Wounded