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Defence in the media

https://modmedia.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/20/defence-in-the-media-20-september-2016/

Defence in the Media: 20 September 2016

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Events in Syria dominate this morning's headlines from a defence point of view.

Coalition air strikes

There is coverage in most national newspapers of the MOD's involvement in recent coalition air strikes in Syria.

An MOD spokesperson said:

We can confirm that the UK participated in the recent coalition air strike in Syria, south of Dayr az Zawr on Saturday, and we are fully cooperating with the coalition investigation. The UK would not intentionally target Syrian military units. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.

Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT)

There is continued coverage in the Daily MailThe Daily Telegraph and The Sun of the work of IHAT, an organisation set up to review and investigate allegations of abuse in Iraq during the period of 2003 to July 2009.

An MOD spokesperson said:

We’ve seen our legal system abused to falsely impugn our armed forces and we are putting an end to that. Equally, our armed forces are rightly held to the highest standards and, whilst rare, where there are credible claims of criminal behaviour, we should investigate them. Stamping out the many spurious claims will mean IHAT is better able to focus on the few credible ones.

The papers bring up the case of Rachel Webster, a former captain in the Adjutant General’s Corps who was arrested in 2014.

An MOD spokesperson said:

A compensation claim made following an arrest in 2014 has been settled. When claims are received they are considered on the basis of whether or not the MOD has a legal liability to pay. Where there is a proven legal liability, compensation is paid.

Image of the Day

Pipes and Drums of 10 QOGLR perform for invited guests. Gurkha Welfare Trust has received a donation of £300,000 from Defence Logistics VQ Trust at a special presentation held at St Omer Barracks in Aldershot. 10 Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Reehal said “It is an extremely important day today; The Defence Logistics VQ Trust have been investing a significant amount of time and resources into giving young soldiers a vocational qualification. Today the trust is making a donation to Gurkha Welfare Trust, which will help those in Nepal. We as a Regiment are bringing together these two wonderful organisations to mark this very special occasion. This has given us the perfect opportunity for them to meet the many soldiers they have helped support over time.” The Defence Logistic Vocational Trust are a charitable organisation who provide education and vocational training to military personnel. They have worked with the Royal Logistic Corps for a number of years and have been responsible for hundreds of solders achieving civilian qualifications. Defence Logistic Vocational Trust CEO Mr Paul Downey “We are based in Yorkshire but we cover as a training facility the whole of the British Army throughout Germany, Northern Ireland and the UK mainland. We are an educational charity and we are in the process of winding the charity up after having delivered 20 years of service to the British military. In the process of winding up we have decided, with Charity Commission approval, to disperse the assets of the Trust which include property and monies and we are delighted that we are actually dispersing some £8 million to Service based charities and obviously one of those was the Gurkha Welfare Trust.” The Trust is the lead Gurkha charity that looks after Gurkha veterans in Nepal. The Trust represents their primary source of existence financially and the Trust is there to support them in all ways.
Gurkha Welfare Trust has received a donation of £300,000 from Defence Logistics VQ Trust at a special presentation held at St Omer Barracks in Aldershot. Crown copyright.

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