Alex Salmond pledges scholarships for children of military killed in action

Published on Friday 22 April 2011 19:09

ALEX Salmond yesterday pledged to introduce scholarships for the children of servicemen and women killed in action when he visited the Erskine Home in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, with the SNP transport minister and Falklands veteran Keith Brown.

Mr Salmond said the SNP government invested about 1 million over three years in the Scottish Veterans Fund to support 33 organisations, including Erskine, and brought together the Scottish Government, Ministry of Defence and veterans' organisations to improve services for Scotland's veterans.

He vowed to retain concessionary travel for injured veterans, continue priority treatment for veterans within the NHS and to introduce further and higher education scholarships for the children of servicemen and women killed while on active duty.

The First Minister said the SNP will also continue to press the UK government to keep both RAF Leuchars and RAF Lossiemouth open.

He said: "Scotland's heroes deserve our support whilst in service and in society.

"The SNP government understands Scotland's military tradition and the covenant we have with our service personnel.

"The SNP is committed to doing all that we can, in partnership with organisations like Erskine and the armed forces community, to meet the needs of all of our servicemen and women, both past and present.

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"Our support for Scotland's veterans - extending concessionary bus travel to injured veterans, opening up access to health treatment and housing and supporting organisations that help veterans adjust to civilian work - is a key part of that."

Mr Salmond added: "We will support the families of our service personnel, offering help to the children of those killed in active service to ensure they have the same opportunities at further and higher education as anyone else."

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