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.