[jambutty]

Today is one of the few days in a year where I was up and about before 8 o’clock but it did mean that I was able to listen to an early morning news bulletin and pricked up my ears for one item.

According to that bulletin, earlier this year, Gordon Brown decided that 27th June 2006 would be the first of a regular annual day to celebrate Veteran’s Day. The 27th was chosen because it is the day after the day that the first VC was awarded on 26th June 1857, as decreed by Queen Victoria.

To facilitate the distribution of the award the Veterans Agency (a Quango) was formed but it would appear that their brief is only to respond to claims and not contact all ex servicemen and women who qualify for the award.

If it weren’t for the chance reading on BBC Ceefax about the award I would have known nothing about it. It just goes to show how much the government value those veterans of years gone by. As usual a government initiative has not been thought through and only living veterans can make a claim leaving the remaining spouse and children outside of the loop.

As much as I appreciate the gesture, small that it is, it is an absolute scandal not to award the lapel badge posthumously so that the surviving spouse or child (if the spouse is dead) of the veteran can claim the award on behalf of the veteran. That really is mean and stingy. After all how much can the badge cost? I’ll bet that it costs more to run the Quango than it does to supply the lapel badges.

In fact the Veterans Agency is duplicating what the three arms of the armed forces ex-servicemen and women welfare organisations already do. Namely that an ex-serviceman or woman can invoke the help of the welfare organisation should they need it for whatever reason.

I have written to the Veterans Agency and my MP to point out the scandalous omission and ask that it be corrected.

It would be helpful if other recipients of the award did the same.