British government spies on wounded heroes

[Bootneck]

Hundreds seeking compensation are filmed covertly to see if they're lying

Wounded soldiers seeking compensation for their injuries are being secretly filmed to check whether they are lying about their condition.
The Ministry of Defence has ordered its legal teams to make use of ‘Big Brother’ undercover spying powers originally drawn up to deal with counter-terrorism.
All injured servicemen and women claiming compensation from the MoD have been sent letters via their solicitors threatening them with ‘covert surveillance’.
They are warned that their case will be ‘passed to the MoD police’ to consider prosecution if there is suspicion of fraud.
Yesterday the ministry confirmed that since 2000 it had carried out such surveillance on almost 300 injured personnel who sought damages through the civil courts.
The disclosure sparked astonishment and outrage.
Senior military commanders, MPs and campaigners said it was a ‘national disgrace’ and demanded to know why ministers had sanctioned such treatment of soldiers who risked their lives in wars, and paid a terrible price in physical and mental trauma.
Wounded soldiers voiced disgust at what they saw as intimidatory tactics designed to frighten mentally traumatised claimants into dropping their cases.
One former soldier who was left physically and mentally shattered by a mortar bomb in Basra said his warning letter had left him feeling ‘like a benefits cheat’ instead of a once-proud soldier, and that he now struggled to gather the confidence to leave his home.

MoD covertly films hundreds of wounded soldiers seeking compensation to see if they're lying | Mail Online

Lord Guthrie, the former head of the armed forces, said: ‘I find this extraordinary, but sadly it is rather typical of the attitude in the Ministry of Defence and Whitehall.’

Solicitor Hilary Meredith, who acts for 200 clients seeking damages from the MoD, said she was astonished by the letters, adding: ‘This is a national disgrace and must be stopped with immediate effect.
‘British soldiers are risking their lives and suffering horrendous injuries around the world. Is this how they deserve to be treated when they return home?’
She added: ‘We act for people with amputations, burns, shrapnel wounds, paralysis. Some are young men who will need constant care for the rest of their lives.
‘Many have psychological problems which don’t show up on covert video footage. They are the most reluctant litigants you can imagine.
‘Instead of trying to penny-pinch and trip these people up, perhaps the MoD could spend the money on kitting them out properly.

Thanks to the British media for speaking out when those that serve cannot.

 

[Xenophon]

That is a horible story.

 

[Modbert]

That is a horible story.

This is but a small example of the Big Brother type Government that is taking over England.

Looks like 1984, and V for Vendetta weren't too far off.

 

[Bootneck]

Military Covenant? What Miltary Covenant!

MoD court bid to slash injury compensation for soldiers

The Government was at the centre of a row last night over moves to deny soldiers full compensation for injuries suffered in battle.
Solicitors for the Ministry of Defence will this week argue at the Court of Appeal that two soldiers received too much compensation after they appealed against their awards.
One was left crippled and in constant pain after being shot in Iraq. The other is a Royal Marine who broke his leg on a training exercise.
The Government bid has been described as a ‘disgrace’ and comes as growing numbers of soldiers are living with injuries from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last night the MoD suggested the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, introduced in 2005, will work only if the most badly injured soldiers get more.
Anthony Duncan, one of the soldiers who faces losing his full compensation award, was on patrol in Iraq with the Light Dragoons in September 2005 when he was shot in his left thigh.
He needed 11 operations to stabilise the break and suffered calcification of his thigh muscle, leaving him in constant pain.
He was left ‘crippled’ and reliant on crutches, it was reported.
The MoD initially awarded him £9,250 compensation but he appealed and a tribunal awarded him a lump sum of £46,000 and a weekly payment for life.
The other soldier who faces having his compensation cut is Matthew McWilliams, a Royal Marine who broke his leg in a training exercise.
His initial award of £8,250 was raised by a tribunal on appeal to £28,750 and a guaranteed weekly income because he had suffered damage to his knee during surgery.

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/...jury-compensation-soldiers.html#ixzz0MOMAY8Tv

 

[Diuretic]

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

Tommy, Rudyard Kipling.

 

[Bootneck]

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

Tommy, Rudyard Kipling.

How Kipling encapsulated so perfectly the hypocrisy shown by many to the men they expected to save them whenever called upon!

 

[Diuretic]

I don't know when he wrote it but it may have been in the aftermath of the death of his son in WWI, not sure, but yes, I've always found it identifies the hypocrisy of all politicians when it comes to their keeping up their end of the bargain.

 

[Bootneck]

I don't know when he wrote it but it may have been in the aftermath of the death of his son in WWI, not sure, but yes, I've always found it identifies the hypocrisy of all politicians when it comes to their keeping up their end of the bargain.

He wrote it in 1889 in India. It was said that it was gleaned from the facts he gleaned from the troops out there. I love Kipling and I especially like his poem IF, which I assume must have been dedicated to his son.

If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

 

[Bootneck]

Lost Wills Of Dead Heroes

Britain has a 'duty of care' to its armed forces. This began as an unspoken pact between society and the military, possibly originating as far back as Henry VIII's reign. The pact was formally codified as a 'covenant' in 2000. It is not a law but is reinforced by custom and convention.

The covenant originall only applied to the army, but now its core principles are taken to extend to the air force and navy too. It states:

Soldiers will be called upon to make personal sacrifices - including the ultimate sacrifice - in the service of the Nation. In putting the needs of the Nation and the Army before their own, they forego some of the rights enjoyed by those outside the Armed Forces.

In return, British soldiers must always be able to expect fair treatment, to be valued and respected as individuals, and that they (and their families) will be sustained and rewarded by commensurate terms and conditions of service.

This mutual obligation forms the Military Covenant between the Nation, the Army and each individual soldier; an unbreakable common bond of identity, loyalty and responsibility which has sustained the Army throughout its history. It has perhaps its greatest manifestation in the annual commemoration of Armistice Day, when the Nation keeps covenant with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives in action.


Has the military covenant been broken by this governent. I am not able to comment. I leave that to those who read this thread.

The last wishes of soldiers killed in Afghanistan are not being honoured because the wills of fallen heroes are being lost by bungling officials.
The heartbreaking mistakes by the Ministry of Defence have caused deep rifts between the dead men's grieving families and other bereaved loved ones.
Despite an urgent investigation by the MoD, four wills of Royal Marines are still missing. Across the entire Armed Services, the figure is suspected to be far higher.
It sparked calls for a broader inquiry, with one MP accusing the Government of 'bureaucratic incompetence bordering on cruelty'.
The wills controversy is the latest to emboil the Defence Ministry, which has already faced angry claims that it sent servicemen to fight with inadequate equipment, poor reconnaissance vehicles and a lack of helicopters.
Now the Government stands accused of failing its duty to soldiers even after they have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Twenty British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in July alone.

The Daily Mail has learned that one bereaved fiancee of a Marine may lose the £148,000 home they bought together in Sheldon, Birmingham, because his latest will, stating that his half of the property should be left to her, is missing.

Kate Miller is a strong character. She is a primary school teacher and says that since her Marine fiance Neil Dunstan was killed in November last year it is the children there who have kept her sane.
She has struggled to recover from her loss, while facing another battle to find the will that Neil wrote and left in the care of the Ministry of Defence.
Heartbreakingly, Kate was not allowed to walk behind his coffin at his military funeral attended by 1,000 mourners in Dorset. She was told by the civilian vicar that there was nothing to prove she was his 'next of kin' after his will vanished.

MoD loses wills of British heroes: Heartbreak for families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan | Mail Online


Can you imagine how that poor woman felt, not being able to walk behind the coffin of her beloved partner!

 

[Bootneck]

Yesterday saw four more heroes returned in coffins. Meanwhile the government has launched an attempt to deny soldiers crippled in battle full compensation for their injuries.

The Ministry of Defence has gone to the Court of Appeal to try to slash the compensation awarded to two injured soldiers by up to 70%. If the government wins, it will fuel the mounting disquiet over the relatively paltry payments some soldiers are receiving for lifelong injuries.

Military Covenant. What fucking military covenant?

www.timesonline.co.uk/...727677.ece

 

[Diuretic]

 

[bodecea]

Lost Wills Of Dead Heroes

Britain has a 'duty of care' to its armed forces. This began as an unspoken pact between society and the military, possibly originating as far back as Henry VIII's reign. The pact was formally codified as a 'covenant' in 2000. It is not a law but is reinforced by custom and convention.

The covenant originall only applied to the army, but now its core principles are taken to extend to the air force and navy too. It states:

Soldiers will be called upon to make personal sacrifices - including the ultimate sacrifice - in the service of the Nation. In putting the needs of the Nation and the Army before their own, they forego some of the rights enjoyed by those outside the Armed Forces.

In return, British soldiers must always be able to expect fair treatment, to be valued and respected as individuals, and that they (and their families) will be sustained and rewarded by commensurate terms and conditions of service.

This mutual obligation forms the Military Covenant between the Nation, the Army and each individual soldier; an unbreakable common bond of identity, loyalty and responsibility which has sustained the Army throughout its history. It has perhaps its greatest manifestation in the annual commemoration of Armistice Day, when the Nation keeps covenant with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives in action.


Has the military covenant been broken by this governent. I am not able to comment. I leave that to those who read this thread.

The last wishes of soldiers killed in Afghanistan are not being honoured because the wills of fallen heroes are being lost by bungling officials.
The heartbreaking mistakes by the Ministry of Defence have caused deep rifts between the dead men's grieving families and other bereaved loved ones.
Despite an urgent investigation by the MoD, four wills of Royal Marines are still missing. Across the entire Armed Services, the figure is suspected to be far higher.
It sparked calls for a broader inquiry, with one MP accusing the Government of 'bureaucratic incompetence bordering on cruelty'.
The wills controversy is the latest to emboil the Defence Ministry, which has already faced angry claims that it sent servicemen to fight with inadequate equipment, poor reconnaissance vehicles and a lack of helicopters.
Now the Government stands accused of failing its duty to soldiers even after they have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Twenty British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in July alone.

The Daily Mail has learned that one bereaved fiancee of a Marine may lose the £148,000 home they bought together in Sheldon, Birmingham, because his latest will, stating that his half of the property should be left to her, is missing.

Kate Miller is a strong character. She is a primary school teacher and says that since her Marine fiance Neil Dunstan was killed in November last year it is the children there who have kept her sane.
She has struggled to recover from her loss, while facing another battle to find the will that Neil wrote and left in the care of the Ministry of Defence.
Heartbreakingly, Kate was not allowed to walk behind his coffin at his military funeral attended by 1,000 mourners in Dorset. She was told by the civilian vicar that there was nothing to prove she was his 'next of kin' after his will vanished.

MoD loses wills of British heroes: Heartbreak for families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan | Mail Online


Can you imagine how that poor woman felt, not being able to walk behind the coffin of her beloved partner!

Yes I can. A good friend, a Viet Nam vet nurse died of cancer this last winter. Her long time partner was not allowed the flag from her coffin and not allowed in the front row at her Arlington burial. Unfortunately, my friend's cancer hit her so quickly that she did not get all the proper paperwork done to protect her partner. The estranged family swooped in and took over...with government blessing.