In further reporting of Defence Secretary Liam Fox's speech today (13 Aug 2010), the FT says that "Britain's military top brass is to be thinned out for the first time since the end of the cold war as ministers rebalance services that are more top-heavy with officers than at any time in the 20th century":

Sir John Chilcot, Chairman of the Iraq Inquiry, has issued an open invitation to UK military personnel who served in Iraq between 2003 and 2009 to attend an event at Tidworth Garrison on 14 September. Alternatively, views in writing are also welcome.

In further reporting linked to the Strategic Defence and Security Review, The Daily Telegraph says (7 Aug 2010) that ministers and officials plan to scrap large parts of the Armed Forces.

If implemented, the cuts will mean that Britain will almost certainly depart the world stage as a major military power and become what military chiefs call a "medium-scale player".

The Press & Journal reports (16 July 2010) on further SNP-led speculation about the future of Scottish units and bases under the ongoing Strategic Defence and Security Review. The latest speculation concerns the future of The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS) and The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (5 SCOTS). In their present form, these two battalions were created in 2006 under the Restructuring of the Infantry, which was intended to improve stability for Scottish infantry personnel and their families.

Elfyn Llwyd MP has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) about Veterans in the Criminal Justice System:

Servicemen and women returning from active combat abroad should have access to "decompression" advice to tackle problems in readjusting to civilian life and to stem the rising numbers of veterans entering the criminal justice system, according to a group of MPs and unions, reported in The Guardian 05 Jul 2010:

The Ministry of Defence announces (02 Jul 2010) that ten years after the ban on homosexuality in the Armed Forces was lifted, the first Quad Service Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) conference is being held at the MoD's Main Building in London today. Welcome as this is, it is seen as being in stark contrast to the Ministry's ambivalent attitude to the armed forces federation, which individual personnel of any rank are permitted to join, but (unlike other businesses and support organisations) is still being denied MoD permission to visit bases and circulate information material with the willing permission of commanding officers.

Below is a Press Release issued by Mrs Catherine Smith's solicitors following the Supreme Court's decision issued on 30 Jun 2010 about whether soldiers on service abroad are entitled to any of the protections of the Human Rights Act and the European Convention of Human Rights:

The courts have decreed in a number of cases, such as the Afghan detainee case only last week, that insurgents and criminals detained by British forces in Iraq or Afghanistan are covered by the Human Rights Act. Now the UK Supreme Court has determined in the Pte Jason Smith case by a majority of 6 votes to 3 that the jurisdiction of the Act does not extend to British forces personnel on overseas missions. Part of the reasoning for that decision is that all British armed forces personnel, including compulsorily mobilised personnel like Scottish TA soldier Jason Smith, are volunteers. Giving his initial reaction to the Supreme Court's judgement issued today 30 Jun 2010, BAFF Chairman Douglas Young said that: