BAFF representation in Service Voting Working Group

(11 March 2010) The three Service Family Federations and the British Armed Forces Federation are represented in a Minister-led Service Voter Working Group, along with the Ministry of Justice and MoD and the Electoral Commission. The following update is provided courtesy of the Naval Families Federation:

A woman is to command a frontline warship for the first time in the 500-year history of the Royal Navy. Lieutenant Commander Sarah West, 39, will take control of the Type 23 frigate HMS Portland and a mostly male crew of 185 in April. BritishForcesNews reports (08 Aug).

A former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan has said that bringing in the Army to help quell the riots in London, Manchester and across the country would be a step too far. A report by ForcesNews continues:

Writing in The Times newspaper, Colonel Richard Kemp said: “The last thing we want is for British troops to face rioting mobs on the streets of the UK again.”

Colonel Kemp, who himself experienced rioting firsthand during a tour of Northern Ireland, instead argued that water cannons and plastic bullets might be a feasible option.

“I have seen several situations in the past few days where these weapons would have saved injury and destruction of property,” he said.

So far COBRA, the government’s emergency committee has excluded the possibility of deploying military forces onto the UK’s streets.

Last night saw comparatively less violence and disorder in London, with small skirmishes breaking out only in a few areas such as Canning town.

The Prime Minister David Cameron returned early from his summer holiday in an attempt to regain control over the capital, with an extra 10,000 police officers being deployed on the streets of London last night.

However, there were more serious incidents in the north of the country with rioting and looting occurring in Salford, Manchester and Birmingham.

• BFBS ForcesNews source (10.08.2011)
• On this website (09.08.2022) - London riots: 'Army should be last resort, say experts'

The report of the Baha Mousa inquiry will be released later today, Thursday 08 Sep 2011. The Chairman of the Inquiry will make a short statement at 11.00am "to mark the laying of the Inquiry Report before Parliament later in the day". BBC News reports:

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.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox has announced a £1.5 billion investment in UK reserve forces over the next 10 years as part of a wide-ranging shake-up of the UK's military. Dr Fox told MPs that the Territorial Army would form around 30% of a 120,000-strong Army by 2020. In a statement to MPs Dr Fox announced major changes in the basing of forces, with RAF installations set to be taken over by Army units returning from Germany. BritishForcesNews reports (18.07.2011).

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The Scottish National Party's devolved Scottish Government published on 26 November their White Paper entitled "Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland". The extract below sets out the intended position of current service personnel and veterans in the event of a 'Yes' vote in the September 2014 Referendum. It says that no Scottish service personnel would face compulsory redundancy during their contract period. The Scottish Government also intends to examine how the terms and conditions of service personnel could be improved, for example through the official representation of service personnel.

A BBC Democracy Live report of Dr Fox's statement on 16 May includes video of the announcement:

Previous studies in both the UK and US have found that, compared with regular troops, reserve military personnel had more mental health issues -- including more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) -- after returning home from operations in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The latest research at King's College London suggests that difficulty readjusting to civilian life may account for some of that extra risk.

Dudley MP Ian Austin has backed a Parliamentary campaign against "plans to cut pay for members of the Armed Forces". According to the Labour MP's website: