Support our troops: Part three: The battles being fought on the home front

Published on Sunday 8 November 2009 21:40

IN the third and final part of our series looking at the relationship between civilian society and the country's Armed Forces, Emma Cowing goes behind the political rhetoric to examine the support the military gets from the government – and to see what problems remain

YOU DO not need to be a fan of politics to be aware that the government in Westminster is under constant attack over its policies on the war in Afghanistan. A daily dripfeed of news stories questioning muddied strategies, a lack of vital equipment and a new poll showing nearly two-thirds of the public – 63 per cent – want British troops to be withdrawn as soon as possible have culminated in a public perception that the government has lost its way on this most bloody and modern of wars.

But with Gordon Brown stating last Friday that he will not be "deterred, dissuaded or diverted" from Britain's mission in Afghanistan, and more of our troops boarding RAF TriStars for Kandahar Airfield each week, it is clear that despite what much of the population may wish, Britain's armed forces will be involved in the Afghan conflict for some time to come.

In the third part of The Scotsman's Support Our Troops series, we attempt to put the crossfire of contemporary politics to one side in order to examine what support the entire armed forces body – which, including forces families and veterans, exceeds ten million people in the UK today – receives from the governments in Westminster and in Scotland, and ask what more both can do to support our troops.

When it comes to funding, Brigadier David Allfrey, Commander of 51 (Scottish) Brigade, admits the army would like to see more from government.

"We are jolly busy at the moment," he points out. "Things are pretty tight but they're pretty tight at every department of state and pretty tight for the nation as a whole. Would we like to see a better slice of the resources? Of course we would. But support for soldiers is not just about the department of state, there are also many charities that get involved."

Many point to the wide-ranging defence spending cuts made in the mid-1990s as a disastrous decision that is still being reaped by many areas of the armed forces today. The cuts included shutting military hospitals and dismantling much of the medical infrastructure, as well as selling off the married quarters estate and contracting out the recruitment network.

"These chickens have come very much home to roost of late," says one ex-forces source. "They were short-termist; essentially it was, 'It will save money now, all these military hospitals are half-empty'. Well, they were half-empty because they were there for a crisis, not when it's plain sailing. We are now paying a price for things that seemed a good idea at the time to the decision-makers but clearly were not."

Although many within the forces believe that it was a mistake to get rid of them, most now accept that military hospitals are unlikely to be reinstated, due to the massive cost. It's an issue that still frustrates Colin McGregor, a former RAF Tornado pilot who left the military in 2007.

"There's undoubtedly a need for them now. You can understand why in the past they disappeared but I remember before I left the air force seeing an unbelievable number of guys coming back from Afghanistan with horrendous injuries, and the NHS are not equipped to deal with it."

Another healthcare area where many feel support is lacking is for the treatment of psychological disorders, particularly combat-related post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Combat Stress, the ex-forces mental health charity, has seen a 60 per cent rise in admissions in the past five years – many of those men and women who served in Northern Ireland or the Falklands who have only recently been diagnosed with this often misunderstood mental health problem.

Andrew Lorimer, who served in the air force for 18 years and flew helicopters for Special Forces, was diagnosed with PTSD in 2002. "It ruined my life, basically," he says. "In 2003 I was medically discharged from the military with a war pension and spent the next two years trying to access some sort of help for PTSD through every avenue available in the NHS. I got no help at all."

Lorimer has since recovered and trained as a counsellor in neuro-linguistic programming, and has now set up his own charity, Talking2Minds, where unpaid veterans who have experienced PTSD treat others like them.

His story is a common one, and as more veterans come forward with psychological issues, one that is only going to increase. In Scotland, the government last week launched a scheme called the Veteran's Champions Initiative, which will install "champions" in every local authority in Scotland in an attempt to foster greater understanding of the issues affecting veterans, including housing, medical care and employment.

In July 2008, a Command Paper was published at Westminster which looked at ways to give "Cross-government support to our armed forces, their families and veterans". It was matched by a Scottish minister's commitment paper, an update of which was published last week by the Scottish Government. Alex Neil, minister for housing and communities, claims improvements had been made.

"We have introduced a series of initiatives," he says. "Specialised NHS treatments, free bus travel and access to schemes to buy a home and find a job will hopefully all make life easier and good progress has been made to increase support in a number of other areas.

"However, there is more to do and I can give a guarantee to those who have served our country that we will continue to listen to what they need and look for the best ways to increase support."

The Paper has led to a number of small improvements for the armed forces , including the retention of places on NHS waiting lists, priority boarding school places for forces children, and fairer treatment when forces' families apply for social housing.

Bill Rammell, the armed forces minister, says more can be done. "We are constantly looking at what more we can do as a government," he says. "We've looked across Whitehall at how every department interacts with veterans – whether it's mental health issues, housing, school places or whatever, and looked across the board at ways we can improve support to our veterans."

Some within the armed forces community, however, are sceptical. Jim Panton, chief executive of the veterans' charity Erskine, says: "There's a motivation to do what is going to be seen to be good in the public domain. We've got a potential election looming so you've got to wonder where the support is being motivated from."

But he adds: "You only have to look back over the last six months, with the backtracking on the disastrous compensation scheme and, most recently, the turnaround on the cuts to the Territorial Army, to see that where the government is being driven by financial requirements, the public will rise up against it and there will be a quick turnaround."

And if members of the Armed Forces want to get closer to the political action, they can take a seat in parliament. John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, announced last week that there will be seats reserved for Armed Forcesto watch Commons proceedings.

If they take him up on the offer, some of members our armed forces would then be able to judge, at first hand how politicians, those who send them to war, threat them. They might learn something.