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.

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:

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.

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."

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?

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.

In this post former BAFF chair Douglas Young, a retired lawyer and reserve Lt Col, commends Sir David Davis's Military Operations Bill but queries the media spin that the Bill would "force ministers to own their decisions", and raises further questions in what Young believes is a "discussion worth having".

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

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.

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. 

Following the resignations of John Healey and Al Carns, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon writes in the Telegraph that Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, who as Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the armed forces, should now "show that he represents British servicemen and women by falling on his sword as well", because –

The resignation of John Healey MP as Defence Secretary marks the end of a period in which, whatever one's political views, Defence had at its head someone who had prepared thoroughly for it in Opposition and, when the time came, did not disappoint.

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

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.

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.