SNP demands change to stop military being 'cheated' out of holidays

Published on Saturday 4 July 2009 19:54

AN SNP MSP has launched a Holyrood bid to persuade defence chiefs that travelling time should not count towards the holiday allowance of service personnel. Kenneth Gibson argued that troops are being "cheated" out of their full entitlement.

He has written to Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth urging a rethink. And he has tabled a Holyrood motion criticising the Ministry of Defence's stance.

Servicemen and their families are routinely advised that 14 days of rest and recuperation includes travelling time, which typically reduces it to 12 days. Holiday allowances for US and Canadian service personnel do not include travelling time, said Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North.

"Our service personnel do a difficult, dangerous and stressful job often in hostile territory thousands of miles from home," he said. "The more dangerous and far-flung a posting, the less time service personnel can enjoy with their families.

"By effectively cheating our troops out of some of their leave, the MoD is devaluing the job they do."

But an MoD spokesman said such a change would have "unacceptable" implications. It would disrupt planning and create a knock-on effect on subsequent or overlapping leave periods for other service personnel, which in turn could affect operational requirements.