A Fijian citizen who was seriously injured in Iraq in 2005, and was diagnosed with PTSD after a further tour but reportedly received no treatment for it, is now threatened with deportation from the United Kingdom.

Many commentators have welcomed the outcome of the House of Commons debate on 11 February 2011 about votes for prisoners. Conservative MP Simon Reevell, who voted for the successful motion, made an interesting point in defence of the European Court of Human Rights, without which much-needed improvements to the UK's court martial system would not have taken place.

According to a report in The Daily Mirror. Prime Minister David Cameron today "stands accused by the Labour Party" of breaking "10 crucial election pledges" to Britain's armed forces:

According to a report in The Guardian, the armed forces have been warned that they cannot be spared from the government's spending cuts as pressure mounts on ministers to reconsider changes that could cost families thousands of pounds in pensions and allowances.

(Daily Mail 09 Feb 2011).  David Cameron was accused yesterday of breaking his promise over the military covenant — the state's responsibility to its Armed Forces:

The Daily Mirror claims that the war on terror is taking its toll on the mental state of British troops with a "dramatic rise in the number seeking psychiatric help":

The Ministry of Defence has today announced changes to the allowances paid to Armed Forces personnel for expenses incurred during service.

Twenty years on from the commencement of offensive air operations in the liberation of Kuwait, campaigners say that more than 9,000 British veterans are still suffering from a cocktail of war-related health problems. Sky News reports (16 Jan 2011) that:

The Daily Telegraph's Defence Correspondent writes that there are fears that the 3,500 strong MoD Police force that protects nuclear missiles, special forces bases and vital energy sites could be slashed by as much as a third:

One of Britain's oldest military flying units, 201 Squadron Royal Air Force, will be marching for the last time on Guernsey's Liberation Day, 9 May 2011.

The report of the independent Covenant Task Force led by Professor Hew Strachan was released by the Government on 08 Dec 2010.

Vice-Admiral Sir Michael Moore, Chairman of the respected Forces Pension Society, has told The Times that the report is "incredibly wet and feeble."

The Daily Telegraph's Defence Correspondent writes that the Army is set to lose its ability to fight large scale tanks battles under radical plans being drawn up to slash its fleet of armoured vehicles:

Children and young people's rights groups are calling for a change in the law to end the recruitment of 16 and 17-year-olds into the UK armed forces. Their call comes ahead of the second reading of the Armed Forces Bill, which the Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, will present to the House of Commons tomorrow (10 January). More from the Ekklesia think tank:

The Ministry of Defence stands accused of "politicising" the military covenant, under plans in the Armed Forces Bill to scrap an independent review of the Government's progress in honouring the nation's pact with servicemen and women. According to an Independent on Sunday report:

The government has released more details of the university scholarship scheme for children of British servicemen and women from England, Scotland and Wales killed on active duty.

The new Armed Forces Bill has been presented in Parliament, without any debate today. It is excitingly described as a "Bill to continue the Armed Forces Act 2006; to amend that Act and other enactments relating to the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence Police; to amend the Visiting Forces Act 1952; to enable judge advocates to sit in civilian courts; to repeal the Naval Medical Compassionate Fund Act 1915; and for connected purposes."

defencemanagement.com reports that military families are set to benefit from £10m of additional funding for their children's education through the introduction of a special 'pupil premium' as the government looks to 'rebuild' the military covenant.

The government is due to unveil a range of measures today to support the armed forces and their families. The measures are in a report commissioned in July into the military covenant to ask what more society could do to support the armed forces and their families. The report by Professor Hew Strachan found that many service families struggled to get a mortgage because they moved so often. UPDATE: The task force report has now been released. See Government to 'rebuild' covenant.

The Sunday Telegraph's Defence and Security Correspondent writes that allowances paid to thousands of members of the armed forces are to be slashed by hundreds of millions of pounds.

BBC News reports (12 Nov 2010) that Downing Street has rejected calls to protect the armed forces from cuts to public sector pensions:

The Cabinet Office today issued the list of proposed reforms to the Government's Public Bodies, or quangos. The following MoD-sponsored bodies listed below are all slated for retention. BAFF particularly welcomes the retention of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB).

The Daily Telegraph reports that State funding for the children of Armed Forces personnel to attend independent schools is at risk from last-minute cuts in the defence budget. While CEA is a major expenditure item about which there is inevitably a range of views amongst our serving members and supporters, the Telegraph story is a welcome corrective to some recent media reporting of CEA as no more than a "lavish perk" of "pampered military chiefs".

Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has appointed the new Shadow defence team. Shadow Secretary of State Jim Murphy will be supported by former Defence Minister Kevan Jones, along with Russell Brown, Michael Dugher and Gemma Doyle.

This is a transcript of the 'essay' by an anonymous serving officer which was read by an actor on The World This Weekend on Sunday 10 Oct 2010:

An article by the BAFF Chairman appears in the Defence section of the Sep-Oct 2010 edition of Government Gazette magazine, which was available at the recent party conferences. The full article can be downloaded below.

BBC News Defence Correspondent Caroline Wyatt says that amphibious forces have played a major role in British military operations for centuries. Now there are fears the Royal Navy could lose much of that capability, as the National Security Council meets to review the country's defence strategy.

Wyatt visited assault ship HMS Albion returning from an exercise in Scotland with young Royal Marine commandos aboard. She also interviewed the Commandant General of the Royal Marines and Commander Amphibious Forces, Maj Gen Buster Howes, as 40 Commando RM returned to the UK from Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Thousands of troops should be forced into the reserves and hundreds of weapons mothballed for Britain to make defence savings, according to a think tank study by a professor of defence engineering. The Daily Telegraph reports that: