Army boss voices concerns
Updated on 18 November 2007
The father of injured Private Jamie Cooper says the government is not protecting troops.
The mother of Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson says compensation given to her injured son is not enough. The mother of Gordon Gentle is angry: a coroner says she should not have had to wait three and a half years for an inquest into her son's death.
Just some of the relatives of soldiers killed or wounded in battle who have spoken out in recent days.
Today it became clear the head of the army, Sir Richard Dannatt, shares some of their concerns.
In a Ministry of Defence report, leaked to the Sunday Telegraph, Sir Richard Dannatt says that troops are feeling, "devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue".
He says that "the military covenant is clearly out of kilter" and that "we must strive to give individuals and units ample recuperation time between operations, but I do not under-estimate how difficult this will be to achieve whilst under-manned and with less robust establishments than I would like."
The report was compiled from thousands of Ministry of Defence interviews with soldiers and their families. It reveals concerns about pay, resourcing and overstretch. The Ministry of Defence is keen to point out that the report was - in places - positive.
But another senior army officer, Colonel Stuart Tootal resigned on Friday reportedly condemning soldiers' poor pay and lack of equipment in his resignation letter
'Devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue.'General Sir Richard Dannatt
General Sir Richard Dannatt rattled Government nerves last year when he called for a withdrawal timetable for troops in Iraq. Today's leaked comments will hardly be helpful to Gordon Brown. He may have promised an extra £3.5 billion for defence over the next three years, but the Tories say the army is under-funded and budget increases are 'grudging'.
The Ministry of Defence today tried to lessen the impact of General Dannatt's views. He hadn't said the military covenant was broken they argue.
But that the head of the army says the covenant, the military's promise to look after soldiers, is 'out of kilter' is surely criticism enough.
