Two and a half years ahead of the Scottish constitutional referendum which is expected to be held in the autumn of 2014, the British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) is already working on the implications for service personnel.
The membership of the British Armed Forces Federation is drawn from personnel from all three services from across the United Kingdom, as well as those from elsewhere in the Commonwealth. (No referendum vote for citizens of overseas Commonwealth countries, except Malta and Cyprus.)
The Coalition Government introduced a new Electoral and Administration Bill in the House of Commons in May 2012. The Bill provides for the introduction of individual electoral registration in Great Britain, and a number of changes relating to electoral administration and the conduct of elections.
As we see it, the main benefit to service voters is that the timetable for UK parliamentary elections would be extended from 17 to 25 days.
BAFF was represented at the Presidium meeting of the European Organisation of Military Associations - EUROMIL - held at Limerick, Ireland on 27-28 April, 2012.
The two-person BAFF delegation included the Federation's Chairman, Douglas Young. He renewed acquaintance with colleagues from (amongst other countries) Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Montenegro, the Netherlands and Spain, as well as EUROMIL Board members and staff from the small EUROMIL headquarters in Brussels.
The Scottish Government's consultation on arrangements for the independence referendum closes 11 May 2012. Anyone can take part. You can complete the consultation online and you can even take part anonymously, although we do not recommend this.
The separate consultation by the UK Government's Scotland Office has already taken place. BAFF took part in that consultation, and our views were quoted in the UK Government's published summary of the consultation results.
Given that beyond question there are service personnel on both sides of the referendum debate, our focus as with previous elections is to encourage eligible members of the armed forces community to make sure they are properly registered, and then make their own voting choice with confidence that their votes will count.
More than 8000 personnel from Commonwealth countries (other than the UK) serve in the Royal Navy, Brish Army and Royal Air Force.
Among them are 2,200 Fijians who make up one of the largest groups of Commonwealth service men and women to serve in Her Majesty's British Armed Forces.
Ex-servicemen who had been exposed to radiation in British nuclear weapons tests have lost their Supreme Court bid to launch negligence claims against the Ministry of Defence. BBC News reports that:
As we predicted a few days ago, the Armed Forces Pay Review Body's 2012 report has now been published. The Government has accepted its recommendations on armed forces pay and charges for 2012-2013.
The report has been published on the Office of Manpower Economics' website but, as members have reported difficulty in opening the document, we are meantime making a copy available to logged-in registered users here:
The British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) has responded to the UK Government Scotland Office consultation on arrangements for a referendum on Scotland's constitutional future. The Federation is also responding to the separate consultation by the Scottish Government.
UPDATE: Following the publication of the results of the UK Government's consultation, the BAFF response to that consultation is now available at the link below without the need to log in. The UK's Government's summary includes a quote from the BAFF submission.
The Ministry of Defence has denied the report in today's Times that married soldiers living in Army accommodation will be forced out of their homes under "cost-cutting proposals" being considered by the MOD, as part of the New Employment Model (NEM). The Ministry does not, however, appear to deny that reducing the entitlement to service housing is one of the "range of options" under consideration.
The Labour Party has launched a Shadow Defence Review. BritishForcesNews reports (22 Feb) that:
A story in the Guardian claims that with the MoD planning to sell off its 178-acre vehicle complex at Ashchurch in Gloucestershire, in order to raise money, one of the options under consideration is to move some tanks and other armoured vehicles to storage in Germany.
The UK is in the process of withdrawing thousands of troops from Germany, at the same time as thousands of military vehicles could be heading in the opposite direction.
A BFBS news report says that thousands of members of the Armed Forces could lose their chance to vote this year if they don't fill out a voter registration form.
Every year service personnel across the UK and away on deployment can't have their say in elections because they don't register to vote in time.
BAFF reported last week that 45% of armed forces voters who think they are registered are not properly registered after all.
The Telegraph says that "senior Army sources" have spoken of their increasing concern that the Territorial Army is "not fit for purpose" and will leave Britain's ability to defend itself hamstrung:
In a scathing criticism of defence cuts the Public Account Committee said delaying the building of two aircraft carriers and the Astute class submarines had already increased the Ministry of Defence's costs by more than £5 billion in the long term. A report in the Daily Telegraph continues:
According to the Army Rumour Service website 'ARRSE', there is a plan for a small expedition to Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) in June 2012 to reinstall two memorials to soldiers of the Royal Gloucestershire Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment (RGBW) who died during the Regiment's first operational tour in 1994, when Battalion Tactical HQ, A and B Companies were based in Gorazde. Link to full details at the bottom of this article.
Erskine, the famous Scottish veterans' charity, is reportedly having to cut back on part of its commercial operation which provides valuable wotk for veterans. The Daily Record reports that:
Dr Rhonda Cornum was one of the first generation of women to serve on the frontline in the first Gulf War. Captured by the Iraqi army, it was her ability to withstand that experience that convinced her of the importance of teaching resilience to today's serving soldiers. Less than a week after retiring as assistant US Surgeon General, she's been speaking about resilience training in London. She told Forces News that when she was shot down as part of a rescue mission in 1991 she was certain she was going to die. ForcesNews reports (07 Feb):
Three quarters of service personnel believe that they are registered to vote but according to the latest research, 44% of those are not properly registered after all.
The Mirror has a story about an infantry soldier who was medically discharged from the Army for service-induced hearing loss. He has received other benefits to which he was entitled, but now his application for compensation under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme has been refused by the SPVA - because the service-induced hearing loss is assessed at less than 20%.
When the 20% threshold was imposed by the Ministry of Defence in the 1990's under the old War Pensions scheme, the justification was that compensation should be targeted more at those with the most serious injuries. The new Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), for injuries on or after 6 April 2005, is thankfully more generous than the old scheme but the 20% hearing loss theshold remains.
The ruling remains controversial, because 20% hearing loss is enough to get in the way of your work, domestic and social activities on every single day of life.
But actually discharging a soldier for service-induced hearing loss, and then dismissing his injury claim as in effect trivial, is straight from the pages of Catch-22. It's time to have another look at this ruling.
The Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Peter Wall, says that never again will British troops be deployed in operations like Afghanistan. There is neither the political appetite, nor the money.
Instead, they will be involved in more limited counter-terrorism operations, in cooperation with intelligence agencies and indigenous forces.
The latest feedback to CGS's briefing team, summarised in Soldier magazine, has highlighted concerns about cuts in Army numbers and spending on accommodation, and deep worries about future pension cuts. CGS used an article in the same issue to respond to the concerns raised, saying he sympathised with some of his soldiers’ complaints. From a report in The Daily Telegraph:
BAFF's primary interest at this stage is in ensuring the maximum participation in the referendum by those armed forces personnel and their partners who are registered or genuinely entitled to register to vote in Scotland, in order to make their own voting choice when the time comes.
"Maximum participation" raises various issues including publicity, information, ease of registration and, of course, the actual voting process, especially for those entitled service personnel who are away from Scotland at the time of the referndum, and their wives, husbands or civil partners. The franchise for the referendum must not be less than the franchise for Scottish parliamentary and local government elections.
UPDATE: The Westminster Hall debate on "Participation of Scottish armed forces personnel in a referendum on Scottish independence" , which was due to be held on Wednesday, 25 January, did not take place as the proposer of the debate was not present. This can often indicate that the Government has managed to persuade the proposer that, for one reason or another, the debate would not be timely.
The cancelled debate and BAFF's stance on the issue is mentioned at:
Will there be any continuing reserve liability after redundancy?
Although this may seem a rather remote issue to those currently considering their options, the question has been asked, and the answer may be surprising.
This article, originally posted on 18 January, is topical because of a report in today's Daily Telegraph (09 Apr).
Ahead of the T2 redundancy announcement, the Independent's Defence Correspondent writes that the blueprint for shape of the army will be submitted to the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, in the next two months. The plan will reduce Regular Army numbers to 82,000, and a number of historic regiments may be merged and bases more dispersed throughout the country.
In yet another sign that BFG really is closing down, this year's performance of Cinderella could be the last annual panto in Rheindahlen. The Panto Cinderella will be at The Liitle Theatre, JHQ on 19th-22nd January and 26th-28th January. Tickets cost €8, on sale at The Little Theatre. ForcesNews reports (12 Jan):
BAFF urgently seeks the views of members and supporters on Question 6 of the published Scotland Office consultation paper -
What are your views on which people should be entitled to vote in a Scottish referendum?
The British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) will be responding to the UK Government's consultation paper on how a "legal, fair and decisive" referendum is to be conducted.
Responses to that paper are due to the Scotland Office (a UK Government Department) by 9th March, 2012.
Similarly, BAFF is likely to respond to the SNP Government's own consultation paper which it intends to publish later this month. UPDATE: We are now starting to add our comments below as an indication of our likely responses to the consultations, subject to any further views received from BAFF Full Members or Supporters.
In February 2010 the Council of Europe issued detailed recommendations to its member states on the human rights of members of the armed forces.