After she died alone with apparently no-one to pay for her funeral, it has emerged that SOE heroine Eileen Nearne MBE had struggled with money because her war pension was stopped by the Government.

As predicted, the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB) has recommended a general increase of 1% in base pay, increases of up to 2.8% in rental charges for service accommodation, and of 1.5% in the daily food charge.

BAFF has also just learned that Australian Defence Force personnel, after a hard-fought but respectful campaign by representative organisations with influential MP support, have finally won an increase to their Government's original pay offer.

A transcript is now available of the evidence given to the French equivalent of the House of Commons Defence Committee on 21 January, 2015 about the right of association for the military personnel of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. This follows the European Court of Human Rights rulings of 2 Oct 2014 against France, and the subsequent Pêcheur recommendation, accepted by President Hollande, that French military personnel should now be permitted the right of association. The Pêcheur report accurately described the independent BAFF as being "tolerated" by the Ministry of Defence.

The House of Commons Defence Committee's report of its inquiry into the work of the Service Complaints Commissioner for the Armed Forces (SCC) will be published at 0001 hrs (BST) on Tuesday 26 March. Written evidence to the inquiry, including a memorandum submitted by BAFF, is already available at the link below.

BAFF called for the SCC's powers and role to be increased to those of a full Armed Forces Ombudsman responsible to Parliament. BAFF also highlighted perceptions - especially in the current atmosphere of redundancy and uncertainty - that submitting a service complaint may not be in the best interests of the potential complainant.

UPDATE 26 Feb 2013: Defence Committee backs BAFF call for Armed Forces Ombudsman.

An article by the BAFF Chairman appears in the Defence section of the Sep-Oct 2010 edition of Government Gazette magazine, which was available at the recent party conferences. The full article can be downloaded below.

The British Armed Forces Federation welcomed members of both Houses to a parliamentary reception on Wednesday, 20 May 2009 to explain more about the campaign for recognition of a professional staff association for the armed forces.

The Times is reporting that a member of 1 PARA who ran a gauntlet of gunfire three times as he rescued a US marine has become the first living British soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross for the war in Afghanistan:

"I cannot emphasise enough the importance of dealing with your postal ballot papers as soon as you get them, following the instructions and getting them back in the post or despatched under local arrangements as quickly as you possibly can."  BAFF's Douglas Young, a member of the consultative Service Voting Working Group* established by the Ministry of Justice, updated the unofficial Army Rumour Service website on 21 Apr 2010 about the impact of the volcano ash situation upon voting arrangements for British military voters overseas:

(Source: Lib Dem press release 22 May 2006) As the Armed Forces Bill has its final reading in the House of Commons, the Liberal Democrats have tabled amendments to achieve effective representation for British servicemen and women:

The British Armed Forces Federation continues to support the campaign on behalf of Iraqis who are now in danger as a result of having worked alongside British forces or diplomats. Our support has been at the urgent request of serving BAFF members, along with ex-service members who have relied on local staff while on operations.

Has your MP signed EDM 401, a House of Commons 'Early Day Motion' initiated by Lynne Featherstone MP?

That this House recognises the courage of Iraqis who have worked alongside British troops and diplomats in southern Iraq, often saving British lives; notes that many such Iraqis have been targeted for murder by Iraqi militias in Basra, and that an unknown number have already been killed, whilst many others are in hiding; further recognises that many Iraqis who have worked for fewer than 12 months for the UK are threatened by death squads; and therefore calls upon the Prime Minister to meet the UK's moral obligations by offering resettlement to all Iraqis who are threatened with death for the "crime" of helping British troops and diplomats.

Ask your MP to sign the EDM if they haven't already. You can check here to see who has signed it: House of Commons - EDM 401

• BAFF obtained advice for the campaigners on a legal question;
• We supplied information on previous situations in which British forces personnel had successfully taken steps to protect local staff;
• From colleagues in Denmark, we obtained valuable information which has been put to good use by British campaigners and media.

Eadar-theangairean Iraqi a' faighinn comraich san Danmhairg...

BBC Scotland's weekly Gaelic-language TV magazine 'Eorpa' ('Europe') had a piece on 13 December 2007 about Iraqi interpreters being given asylum in Denmark. Along with interviews with former local staff, a Danish military spokesman emphasises the vital importance of interpreters in post-conflict operations, and a People's Party MP explains why his party decided to make an exception to their anti-immigration stance for these Iraqis.

external links

• WeOweItToThem - campaigning site
• Foreign & Commonwealth Office - Iraq Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme - original link no longer available on FCO website
• Operational Updates - An overview of UNHCR's plans and strategies in Iraq and the region
• Iraqis interpreting 'betrayal' - report from Basra by Panorama's Jane Corbin

• Hundreds of Iraqi interpreters denied chance to live in UK - from The Times, 9 Jan 2008

• Interpreters used by British Army 'hunted down' by Iraqi death squads - The Independent, 17 November 2006