Veterans Badge. Government is not doing enough to promote the availability says local MP

4.42.29pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 27th Feb 2007

The fight for recognition of the efforts of thousands of ex-servicemen and women has been taken up on the floor of the House of Commons by Cheadle MP. Mark Hunter, not satisfied by the answer the Minister for Defence gave to an earlier written parliamentary question, raised this matter with the Leader of the House of Commons Jack Straw on Thursday of last week (1st March 2007). Mr Hunter was seeking a special debate to "assess the impact of what the government had done to promote the scheme", but received a dismissive reply from Mr Straw.

Speaking after the exchange Mark Hunter said, "I am disappointed that Jack Straw treated my question as a bit of party political knock-about when I was attempting to make a serious point. It is clear from response I have obtained during my recent promotion of the Veterans Badge scheme in the local press, that to very many people it seems as if the badge has been kept a closely guarded secret. What I want to know is why the Government hasn't done more to advise the veterans themselves that the badge is available. It really doesn't seem a lot to ask given the million of pounds spent annually on Government advertising, and especially considering the sacrifices of so many of our ex-servicemen and women you might have expected the Government would do all it could to ensure that those who qualify are notified of its availability."

The Cheadle MP has vowed to continue his campaign to inform veterans of this scheme and to assist constituents who would like to apply for the Veterans Badge.