Lib Dem conference reaffirms the Military Covenant (Wantage and Didcot Liberal Democrats)

Wantage and Didcot Liberal Democrats <info@wantagelibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dem conference reaffirms the Military Covenant

September 22, 2009 7:32 AM

Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg in Afghanistan

The Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Bournemouth unanimously supported a motion noting that 60,000 serving personnel, including soldiers on the front line in Afghanistan, are paid less than the starting salary of a police officer or firefighter. It also condemned the neglect by successive governments of service family accommodation, and proposed that the psychological effects of service in Iraq and Afghanistan should be better dealt with.

Key points in the policy include:

· The lowest paid personnel would receive an increase of £6000 - placing them on £22,680 and on an equal footing with a development-level firefighter or new-entrant police constable

· Privates and lance corporals would receive an average annual pay increase of over £3000, with the average annual basic pay across these two ranks rising to around £25,000

· Higher NCO ranks would receive an average annual pay increase of around £1,000

· A doubling in the number of forces' family homes refurbished each year

· Savings to be made in fighter jet procurement and operational costs and invested in providing helicopters for Afghanistan

Commenting, Lib Dem shadow Defence Secretary Nick Harvey MP said: "The amount we pay our troops is a national disgrace. It is deeply unfair that the most dangerous public service job we have is also one of the worst paid. This Government has failed to properly look after troops both on the front line and the home front. There needs to be a massive improvement in the standards of housing we provide to our forces. Military equipment priorities must be changed to ensure our troops in Afghanistan have the vital resources they need - especially helicopters.

"Our brave men and women are enduring unimaginable hardships in Afghanistan, putting their lives on the line day after day. The very least we can do is treat them with respect."