A former Afghan interpreter who suffered life-changing injuries while serving alongside British forces has been denied a review of his compensation claim because the Ministry of Defence would not accept a council tax bill as proof of address.

Updated figures for the "Veterans of the LGBT Ban: Financial Recognition Scheme" are another reminder that applications close at 11:59pm on 12 December 2026.

The UK Government has launched a new public information campaign encouraging households to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies and disruption to everyday services.

Newly disclosed correspondence has raised further questions about the information supplied by Ministry of Defence officials to ministers answering parliamentary questions about Britain's nuclear weapons tests.

The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill completed its House of Commons stages on Tuesday 20 October 2026, passing its Third Reading by 330 votes to 178. It now proceeds to the House of Lords, where further changes remain possible.

An MOD announcement of 14 October confirms that Professor Jason Leitch CBE takes up the post of Chief of Defence Medical on 2 November 2026.

Today's Sunday Times Insight investigation into an SAS operation in Syria raises serious questions extending beyond the circumstances of the original incident.

The British Medical Association has submitted fresh evidence to the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body (AFPRB), calling for improvements in the remuneration of military doctors and dentists. The submission also provides a reminder of the part that independent organisations can play in the Armed Forces pay review process.

With the House of Commons due to commence consideration of the Government's proposed amendments to the Troubles Bill on Monday (19th October), the Commons Library has updated its research briefing on this subject:

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) is stepping up its engagement with serving personnel, service leavers, veterans and their families, highlighting opportunities for careers in armed policing and other specialist roles.

New opinion polling suggests that young people may be more receptive to a year of national service than is sometimes assumed. And a separate poll published today suggests that support for higher defence spending has significantly increased, yet half of the adults surveyed would not personally fight in a war for Britain.

Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner David Johnstone has expressed serious concerns about the Government's proposed legacy legislation, warning that it could expose former service personnel to further investigations and prolonged legal proceedings.

Two former senior Army commanders have warned that the Government's latest amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill still leave veterans exposed to repeated investigations and legal proceedings.

Al Carns MP, the former Armed Forces Minister, has tabled amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill intended to transfer previously halted Troubles-related inquests to the new Legacy Commission. This post has now been extended to include explanation of the UK-Ireland Joint Framework.

Following the oral hearing on 8 October, the MOD has obtained permission from the Inner House of the Court of Session to pursue a further appeal in the Milroy reservist pension case.

The Government has today laid before Parliament the promised package of amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill which it says will "provide lasting protections which ensure former Armed Forces and police personnel are treated with fairness, dignity and respect."

Local Staff International (LSI), an international organisation campaigning for the rights and protection of locally employed personnel, has published comprehensive Guidelines for the Rights & Protection of Local Staff in International Missions.

Evidence emerging from the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan has been referred to service police for consideration of possible serious criminal offences involving UK Special Forces personnel.

An NHS initiative aimed at improving access to healthcare for serving Armed Forces personnel has reduced waiting times by more than four weeks in two important medical specialities.

The MOD recently released figures on the take-up of the compensation scheme for veterans who served under, and were impacted by, the ban on LGBT personnel in HM Armed Forces from 1967 to 2000. This is a timely reminder that applications close at 11.59pm on 12 December 2026.

The Armed Forces Commissioner has launched a call for evidence focussing on welfare, behaviours and lived experience at Phase 1 Training Establishments.

The Commissioner wants to hear from current and former recruits, staff or family members supporting Service personnel through Phase 1 training over the last 5 years.

Evidence should be submitted by 1 Nov 2026.

Reports that £800 million of planned military housing investment has been postponed raise an immediate question for Service families: what improvements can they now expect during this Parliament?

A new photographic exhibition in Ukraine is highlighting a substantial but perhaps sometimes overlooked British military effort – the training of more than 67,000 Ukrainian personnel under the UK-led Operation Interflex.

A rigorous Northern Ireland "Article 2" inquest found in 2024 that the use of lethal force against three IRA men by UK special forces at Coagh, Co Tyrone in 1991 was legally justified.

Our recent Member Opinion on Sir David Davis MP’s Military Operations Bill raised a number of questions about the proposed new legal framework for military operations, including the extent of the duty to investigate allegations of serious wrongdoing.

The Armed Forces Bill proposes to abolish the 13 existing regional Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCAs) and replace them with a new "streamlined" national structure. Jesse Norman MP has a piece in The Telegraph which concludes:

Would you like to contribute to the current debate about legacy investigations in connection with Op Banner and other operations, and what should be the legal regime for future military operations?

Ofsted has issued its eighteenth annual report on the effectiveness of care and welfare arrangements for recruits, trainees and officer cadets in Armed Forces initial training.

Members of the UK Armed Forces do not have the same arrangements for collective representation as many other groups in society.

The Ministry of Defence has announced a further package of reforms intended to give Service families a greater say in the management of their homes.

The United States has gone considerably further in developing specialist Veterans Treatment Courts. These are not directly transferable to the UK – the legal systems and veteran populations are different, and they have higher percentages both of veterans, and of veterans in prison – but they have generated a useful body of research.

The great majority of Armed Forces veterans never enter the criminal justice system. A minority do, however, and there is now a substantial network of statutory and voluntary-sector support intended to identify veterans who come into contact with the police, courts, prisons and probation services and, where appropriate, help them address the problems associated with their offending.

The House of Lords has completed detailed Committee consideration of the Armed Forces Bill, with a lengthy debate on the Reserve Forces producing questions which went considerably wider than the provisions of the Bill itself.

In today's House of Lords debate on the Armed Forces Bill, defence minister Lord Coaker introduced a new draft clause to permit formal call-out and recall notices to be served by email as well as by post.

The clause is a lengthy one, and says that

The new Northern Ireland Secretary does not believe that any former British soldier would face prosecution under the controversial Troubles Bill. Read on for

Reform UK should clarify a potentially far-reaching proposal to give members of the Armed Forces immunity from prosecution for actions taken during combat operations.

A substantial new report from Policy Exchange examines the role of the Special Air Service in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner and the continuing investigation of events which took place decades ago.

The leadership and staff of the Military Court Service (MCS) can take quiet satisfaction in their inspection report by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI).

A legal claim brought by serving and former Royal Marines and British Army personnel over alleged exposure to asbestos during training in Latvia has been settled without any admission of liability by the Ministry of Defence.

ITV News has published a substantial investigation into the experiences of women in the Armed Forces, including allegations of sexual assault, harassment and failures in the way complaints have been handled.

At this stage we are not aware of any BAFF ex-service member who has received an “Overpayment of Armed Forces Pension” letter from Equiniti Paymaster.

The new Armed Forces Commissioner website brings together information about the Commissioner’s role and the help which the office can provide.

What does it mean for our serving members and their families? What does it mean for BAFF itself?

Afghans who worked with UK forces were wrongly refused relocation and left facing years of danger, delay and uncertainty, according to the House of Commons Defence Committee.

A new campaign, Shoulder to Shoulder, has been launched by senior former military leaders and veterans to encourage Parliament to modify the 'Troubles Bill' draft legislation dealing with Northern Ireland legacy cases.

An important legal case concerning the pension rights of Armed Forces reservists is due to return to court later this year.

The Sun reports that a soldier has been convicted at court martial after sending pictures to his (RAF) girlfriend from a secret mission.

For an update see Exercise Haruka Storm back on for the autumn. We previously reported that:

Statistical terminology is hardly the most important issue affecting serving personnel or their families.

The Ministry of Defence has for some time preferred the term "non-UK" instead of "Foreign and Commonwealth" - often abbreviated as F&C.

The Ministry of Defence has announced a new UK-wide study into cancer among serving personnel and veterans who have served since 1990.

Following the recent AFPRB award and its headline increase of 3.6% for the current year, the 2027/28 armed forces pay round has now begun.

The Afghanistan Inquiry has released further witness statements and transcripts.

The fullest media report at the time of writing is by Tom Ball in The Times - SAS called me Taliban apologist, officer tells Afghanistan inquiry.

A report in The Sunday Times highlights continuing concerns about the condition of some Service Family Accommodation (SFA), linking the experiences of military families to the Government's decision to defer part of its planned investment in defence housing.

According to a recent story in the Telegraph, the Ministry of Defence is still supposed to be rewriting its transgender policy, more than a year after the Supreme Court judgment on the meaning of "woman" in the Equality Act, leaving commanding officers and service personnel uncertain about the applicable rules. 

Good to see Armed Forces Day being celebrated once again in many places across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, which had "more than a dozen events" from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Thurso and Dumfries.

A report just released by the National Audit Office says that the Ministry of Defence lost the taxpayer around £14.5 billion over the life of the Annington Homes deal, compared to where we would be if the 1996 deal had never happened.

The Australian Department of Defence announced a couple of months ago that it had commissioned a major Army study into how repeated low-level blast exposure may affect soldiers’ long-term cognitive function. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) now has a paywalled story that:

Secret report warns ADF weapons risk brain injuries to troops
Secret Defence documents have revealed Australia’s military was warned 15

Inverclyde Council is one of several Scottish local authorities which have agreed to award the Freedom of their area to the Royal Regiment of Scotland in this, its 20th year.

After the Glasgow controversy it was pleasant to learn from the Greenock Telegraph that the Council have now confirmed the date and arrangements for the Regiment's Freedom Ceremony.

The Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan has just released a large tranche of redacted/anonymised evidence documentation.

AFPRB UPDATE: The full AFPRB report and recommendations for financial year 2026-27, accepted by the Government and published on 9 June 2026, is now available at this link: Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body Fifty-Fifth Report 2026.

Update 30.05.26 - The special reduced £5 subscription has been agreed and will be rolled out shortly. It will only be on offer for a short period during the transition to an association.

The Chair of the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan has granted Core Participant status to five individuals "who held command roles or senior positions within UK Special Forces between mid-2010 and mid-2013."

Today, 22nd May 2026, is the fifteenth anniversary of the official end of Operation Telic, the formal name for UK operations in Iraq that began with the 2003 invasion and subsequent removal of the dictator.

We thought it might assist Glasgow City Council members if they were to see an example of a previous parade in which the Freedom of a council area was formally conferred on the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Here's a high-quality video of the Freedom Ceremony on 12th October, 2015 conferring on the Regiment the Freedom of the Highlands:

The Prime Minister said in Parliament today that Glasgow City Council should 'reconsider' its controversial decision last week to reject a motion to grant the Freedom of the City

Congratulations to the whole team involved in getting medical assistance and supplies to the remote British Overseas Territory of Tristan da Cunha to help a British national with suspected hantavirus.

Voting on 7th May in England? Don't forget to bring Photo ID with you, if voting in person at the polling station.

What forms of Photo ID are acceptable?

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An essential part of 'successor BAFF', which will take the form of an Unincorporated Association, is a new Constitution.

With a significant procedural motion concerning the NI Troubles Bill expected on Monday (27 April), the picture is supposedly complicated by the expected absence of the Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, who is believed to be visiting troops engaged in defensive missions against Iran in the Gulf.

The saga of Northern Ireland Troubles legislation continues in Parliament on Monday (27 April), following a statement by the NI Secretary Hilary Benn last week.

The position as of spring 2026 is a bit of a moving target, but can be summarised in three overlapping strands: (1) the existing 2023 Act (partly in force but legally damaged), (2) court challenges undermining it, and (3) new legislation currently working its way through Parliament but delayed.

1) The current law: the 2023 “Legacy Act”

The operative statute

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is intended to implement Labour Party manifesto commitments to 'overhaul the regulation of our country’s insecure and unjust private rented sector'

Work continues on reorganising BAFF to change its structure from a registered Company Limited by Guarantee to an ordinary unincorporated association.

Following an evidence session with her on Wednesday (26 Mar), the House of Commons Defence Committee has recommended the Defence Secretary to proceed with the appointment of his preferred candidate for Armed Forces Commissioner, retired RAF Air Commodore Polly Miller-Perkins.

An MOD written parliamentary answer to James Cartlidge MP (Cons, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence) reveals that in just under 20 months, nearly sixty thousand applications to join the armed forces were rejected on medical grounds.

According to an independent report commissioned by the Afghanistan Inquiry, there were 'serious failings' in a Royal Military Police (RMP) inquiry into allegations arising from operations in Afghanistan.

The Government proposes, in the Armed Forces Bill currently before Parliament, to establish a new standalone corporate body to be called the Defence Housing Service.

Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) held this week a webinar exploring opportunities for service leavers and veterans in armed policing.

The Labour Party's 2024 General Election manifesto included a commitment to "strengthen support for our Armed Forces communities by putting the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law", and in June 2025 following a Defence Committee report on the Armed Forces Covenant, the Government committed to extending the Covenant’s Legal Duty to all UK Government departments and the devolved administrations.

The Ministry of Defence has announced that for the first time, free, independent legal advice will be available to victim-survivors of rape and sexual offences (allegedly) committed by Service personnel or a civilian subject to Service Discipline that are being investigated by the Service Justice System.