Military covenant ‘U-turn will harm morale and recruitment’

The Royal British Legion says it is “disappointed at the very least” that there is no provision in the armed forces bill to enshrine the military covenant in law.

It is is a pact between the Government and the armed forces which promises a duty of care to troops for the sacrifices they make.

The Royal British Legion’s director-general Chris Simpkins told Channel 4 News it was “completely counter to a commitment the Prime Minister gave when he made a speech on board Ark Royal last June”.

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He added: “We’re very concerned to see this U-turn because it undermines what we know the government is trying to do and support the armed forces in very difficult times.”

Government response

Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Liam Fox said: "We are absolutely committed to rebuilding the Covenant. Our Armed Forces make huge sacrifices for us, and in turn we will ensure we provide them with the support they need and deserve. 

"We have already doubled the operational allowance and increased support to deal with mental health illnesses. 

"In addition, we are legislating to make it a requirement that the Government report annually on its work to deliver the Covenant and we are considering a range of further measures following the independent report of the Task Force on the military Covenant which was commissioned by this Government."

The British Legion says the Government’s pledge to report annually on its work to deliver the covenant is not enough because it is not subject to independent scrutiny.

Cutbacks

Campaigners claim nearly 80 per cent of soldiers would consider leaving the services because of cuts.

Service families face reductions in allowances for housing and education.

The Army Families Federation said that a poll carried out by the group, of between 1,200 and 1,500 personnel and their families, showed 78 per cent felt like leaving because of financial difficulties.

The organisation’s chief executive Julie McCarthy, whose husband is a serving soldier, said military families face genuine financial difficulties: “I think it’s having a really damaging effect on morale.

“Army families have put up with a lot in the last few years: the operational tempo has been very high, we move around a lot, there’s always a lot of pressure on families.

The long term impacts are a decline in morale and possibly an impact on recruitment which will be pretty serious. Chris Simpkins

“People aren’t in the forces for the money..but if they see it impacts on their families too much they will decide to join civilian life.”

She continued: “To say that it doesn’t affect frontline troops in disingenuous. When that troop comes home he’s affected by the allowance cuts, his family are affected by the concerns and uncertainty and he may lose his job.

“There are real concerns in Afghanistan and we’ve had a lot of emails from over there.”

An ex-soldier's view

Alasdair Ross, spent 24 years in the Army and is now a Labour councillor in Ipswich.

"When I served in the Army I had a decision to make when my daughter reached 11: would I put her in boarding school or move back to my home town?

"I chose my home town and I was able to do this with help from the army 'Over 37' package which gave me assistance in getting home once a month to see my family, and for them to settle down before I had to leave the forces at 40.

"That package is to be scrapped and the boarding school allowance will be cut.

"So the only choice would be to leave your child in a forces school, and that means every two years they would change school.

"There was talk from the Tories of paying for soldiers' children to go to university, well if a child has to move schools every two years there would be little possibility of any child gaining the academic qualifications to get into university."

The British Legion shares Julie McCarthy’s concerns.

Chris Simpkins said: “We’re seeing various allowances paid to the armed forces being reduced..if we then see that the Government isn’t prepared to give a legal commitment to an armed forces covenant I feel that may well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and will have a very harmful impact on morale.

“The long term impacts are a decline in morale and possibly an impact on recruitment which will be pretty serious not withstanding that we’re reducing the size of the armed forces.

“If you’re a mother whose 18-year old son is thinking of joining the armed forces I suspect you’d quite like to think the nation is going to take care of him or her if they’re harmed as a result of their service life.”