4,000 soldiers flown home for treatment, but no visit from PM

• Blair criticised for not visiting injured soldiers

• 4,000 troops have failed to recieve recognition

• PM accused of 'lack of respect' for troops

Key quote

"They feel that they have been treated disgracefully," she said. "They have done their bit and it is a disgrace that they are being treated in this way. But from the way Tony Blair treats the families of those who have been killed in Iraq it doesn't surprise me that this is how they treat the wouned." - Rose Gentle

Story in full

MORE than 4,000 British soldiers have been flown home from Iraq for medical treatment since the start of the war in 2003 - but not one has received a visit from the Prime Minister in hospital on their return.

The previously unreleased casualty figure reflects the true human cost of the war in Iraq. It is the equivalent of eight infantry regiments, or half the army's current strength in Iraq.

US soldiers flown home for treatment have received regular visits from senior figures in their administration, including the president, George Bush, and vice-president Dick Cheney.

Britain's wounded have been denied any such recognition, with only the Defence Secretary and a handful of junior defence ministers bothering to visit the Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham where the injured are treated.

Downing Street refused to discuss the reasons for the Prime Minister's decision to stay away from the hospital.

But opponents of the war said the government's failure to acknowledge the growing number of casualties reflected a lack of respect for the soldiers who had been sent to the Middle East to fight and they accused Mr Blair of being afraid of the negative publicity which might be generated by images of injured soldiers.

Rose Gentle, who lost her son Gordon in a bomb attack on a Royal Highland Fusiliers patrol in Basra last year, said she had spoken to soldiers who had returned injured from Iraq who felt that they had been ignored.

"They feel that they have been treated disgracefully," she said. "They have done their bit and it is a disgrace that they are being treated in this way.

"But from the way Tony Blair treats the families of those who have been killed in Iraq it doesn't surprise me that this is how they treat the wounded."

The SNP leader, Alex Salmond, said: "This situation is a damning indictment of a failing Prime Minister who is refusing to confront the horrific consequences of his own actions. While he is happy to go on triumphalistic media-friendly tours of Iraq, the fact that he has failed to meet those soldiers who have put their own lives on the line for his unjust cause, speaks volumes for his lack of honour and integrity."

Andrew Burgin, a spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition, said soldiers deserved more respect. He said: "Because of the difficulties of the government in Iraq they are trying to hide not only the casualty figures but the wounded themselves."

He said he believed that Mr Blair was afraid to be photographed with the injured in case the images were later used against him by protesters.

Exact casualty figures for the British Army in Iraq are hard to come by because the Ministry of Defence claims that it does not keep a log of injuries.

The picture is further muddied because many of those injured in action are treated in Iraq and return to duties without having to seek medical attention back in the UK. However, defence sources said about a third of those evacuated from Iraq are understood to have sustained their injuries in action.

The latest available figures for show that up to the end of September, 3,836 soldiers had been brought home for treatment, an average of four soldiers every day. Army sources said that at that rate, the figure was now expected to have passed the 4,000 mark.

Challenged previously on the subject of his failure to visit injured soldiers at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak Hospital, Mr Blair told the Commons that the armed forces were courageous people who had done an immensely worthwhile job in Iraq.

Some members of the Royal Family have made visits to the troops, however, including Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.