For those who missed it, today's General Election Debate hosted by Forces TV and the Royal United Service Institution is now available to view online here:

The Liberal Democrat Party has for some years supported the cause of representation for armed forces personnel, and formally adopted it as a policy at its 2013 conference, so some British Armed Forces Federation members were surprised to note that it was left out of the party's General Election manifesto. BAFF took this up with the Lib Dems, and has now received confirmation from its defence spokesman that representation remains an official party policy.

Political support for the "right of association" for armed forces personnel has increased in the 8 years since the launch of the British Armed Forces Federation, but remains patchy. We cover in a separate article a new message of support from the Liberal Democrats, and the position of the outgoing coalition government. But only the Scottish National Party (SNP) has made a General Election manifesto commitment to representation for armed forces personnel.

Nobody likes to be told we can't do something. It's the same for the General Election.