After nearly four years ex-paratrooper Tom Neathway, who lost both legs and one arm in an IED blast in Afghanistan, has finally received the Army's apology not only for the way he was bullied by a superior, but for the way he was then treated by the chain of command, and his complaint under the service complaints system appallingly mishandled. Alex Thomson's report shown on Channel 4 News last night 06/10/2014 can be seen below:

In the same week as the Justice Secretary announces manifesto proposals to quit the European Court of Human Rights or disregard its rulings, there has been a dramatic new development in the ECHR position on the right of military personnel to form or join a trade union or representative military association.

In the last party conference season before the General Election on 7 May 2015, political parties have been setting out their proposals affecting armed forces personnel and veterans. In alphabetical order, to be updated as the conference season progresses:

The Government has published the directions issued by the Treasury to the Chairman of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body for the latest pay review round. Similar letters, signed by Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander MP, went to the other public sector pay review bodies. Points in the letter include:

Following the Scottish Independence Referendum a number of video clips have been circulated which some believe to show vote-rigging during the official indyref count. People have been signing online petitions calling for investigation, for a recount, or even for the whole referendum to be re-run.

Following enquiries received and references to the claims on forces-related online forums, BAFF's Douglas Young examined the video clips, and reported as follows:

"Strong feelings and contrasting emotions ... tempered by an understanding of the feelings of others."

Following the conclusion of the Scotland Independence Referendum, Royal staff have taken the unusual step of releasing a written message on behalf of HM The Queen. The message reads:

With voting now under way, we are putting back on the front page the British Armed Forces Federation plan for the Scottish Independence Referendum. The plan was first published here for comment on 6 June 2012. All comments received from members were taken into account and some changes and additions made. The draft was approved by the BAFF Executive Council and thereafter endorsed by the 2013 AGM.

More stories have appeared in the UK and international media about the "fury" of Scots armed forces personnel who are unable to vote in the historic referendum.

Complaining that "Only those who still have an address in Scotland will be able to take part, affecting troops stationed in England, Cyprus and Germany", a Daily Mail story did concede that forces personnel could "in theory" register at an address where they would be living were they not in the forces, or at a previous address.

BAFF has uncovered an astonishing error in recent reporting about the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).

Both the Daily Telegraph and the BBC have claimed that 36,000 new claims were registered in one year 2013-14, an extraordinary figure which would certainly suggest a high level of abuse, and go a long way to explain the "serious delays" in processing such claims.

But that figure is completely wrong.

While we are in no doubt that the mistake was honestly made, we have not seen any attempt to correct it, and we are appalled that it has given encouragement to a whispering campaign aimed at reducing the cost of the AFCS.

A prominent centre-page piece in today's Daily Telegraph declares that Scottish soldiers based at Catterick in Yorkshire "have been disenfranchised" in the independence referendum.

But the article omits the fact that regular service personnel from Scotland have the option of registering there as service voters, and then of voting by post or by proxy.