Of note for defence news this morning are reports, including on BBC News,that Turkey has again summoned the Russian ambassador after a reported second violation of its airspace by a Russian warplane
operating in Syria.
Soldier death
The Times, Daily Telegraph, and Daily Mailreport on the death of a British soldier during parachute training in Germany last week. The articles report that L/Cpl Ali Woodford, 26, of 1st Bn The Rifles is believed to have collided in mid-air with another soldier and his parachute then failed to open properly. The papers report that the other soldier was unhurt.
An Army spokesperson said:
We can confirm that Lance Corporal Ali Woodford died following a parachuting incident in Sennelager, Germany on 29 September 2015.
The incident is being investigated and it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Our thoughts are with Lance Corporal Woodford’s family at this time.
Performance payments
An article in the Sun reports that senior MOD civil servants have been paid nearly £120 million in bonuses in the past five years, during which time such payments have halved.
We can be clear that the MOD, like other government departments, rewards performance through the use of one-off payments. They are non-pensionable and have to be earned against stringent objectives each year. In addition, performance-related payments are part of the MOD pay bill rather than an additional cost.
An MOD spokesperson said:
The value of performance-related awards paid by the MOD was cut by almost half between 2011/12 and 2014/15. This has contributed to the £5billion of efficiency savings the department is on course to deliver since 2010.
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