Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the validity of veterans' ID cards as a form of identification in the May local elections.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Currently, Veterans’ Recognition Cards are not on the list of approved photographic ID for use in polling stations. This list is set in secondary legislation and further legislation would be required to add the Veterans’ Recognition Cards. A comprehensive list of the accepted forms of identification is available at the following link: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voter-id/accepted-forms-photo-id.
Consideration will be given in the future to including the Veteran’s Recognition Card on the list of approved ID for use in polling stations, once the rollout of cards to pre-2018 veterans is complete. However, in the meantime, there is a wide range of different types of ID on the list, so a lack of Recognition Card should not act as a barrier to veterans being able to vote.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the uptake of veteran's ID Cards.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Veterans’ Recognition Scheme has a two-phase rollout. Phase one is complete; with all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receiving a recognition card from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) as part of their discharge process. As of January 2023, there have been over 62,100 HM Armed Forces Veterans’ Recognition Cards issued as part of phase one
Phase two aims to extend access to the recognition card scheme to those veterans who left service before December 2018, including those residing in Canterbury. The MOD is currently developing the verification system required to enable the delivery of Phase two and is working closely with veterans and other stakeholders to make sure that the system works, before introduction into live service. We will be engaging with veterans over the coming months to participate in this testing phase. Veterans will be able to choose whether to apply for a card, however, we know that 1.85 million people in England and Wales reported that they had previously served in the UK Armed Forces in the 2021 Census (data from Scotland is expected soon).
The Government remains committed to delivering recognition cards to existing veterans and we aim to roll this service out later in the year.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to take steps to increase the number of veteran ID cards issued to veterans in Canterbury.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Veterans’ Recognition Scheme has a two-phase rollout. Phase one is complete; with all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receiving a recognition card from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) as part of their discharge process. As of January 2023, there have been over 62,100 HM Armed Forces Veterans’ Recognition Cards issued as part of phase one
Phase two aims to extend access to the recognition card scheme to those veterans who left service before December 2018, including those residing in Canterbury. The MOD is currently developing the verification system required to enable the delivery of Phase two and is working closely with veterans and other stakeholders to make sure that the system works, before introduction into live service. We will be engaging with veterans over the coming months to participate in this testing phase. Veterans will be able to choose whether to apply for a card, however, we know that 1.85 million people in England and Wales reported that they had previously served in the UK Armed Forces in the 2021 Census (data from Scotland is expected soon).
The Government remains committed to delivering recognition cards to existing veterans and we aim to roll this service out later in the year.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will revise the eligibility criteria for the General Service Medal (1918 GSM) with Canal Zone Clasp in order to allow service personnel who served in the Canal Zone at other times besides those specified in the present criteria to receive that medal in recognition of their service.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
There are no plans to extend the award of the General Service Medal with Canal Zone clasp. The Canal Zone clasp was introduced in 2003 and was awarded retrospectively for 30 days’ service between 16 October 1951 and 19 October 1954.
A challenge to the eligibility criteria was the subject of an independent review in 2013. That review recommended that there were insufficient grounds to extend the criteria, and this decision was endorsed by the Advisory Military Sub Committee.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason 1st Battalion Irish Guards have a continued presence at Fort Tagi in Iraq.
Answered by James Heappey
UK troops are in Iraq, as part of the Coalition, in order to ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh. This includes mitigating chances of a Daesh resurgence and developing the capacity of the Iraqi Security Forces at the Taji Military Complex. At the invitation of the Government of Iraq, the UK has helped train over 110,000 Iraqi Security Forces personnel, including Kurdish Peshmerga.
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, there has been a reduced requirement for training from the Iraqi Security Forces and a subsequent pause in the Coalition and NATO training missions in Iraq. We have therefore decided to redeploy some UK personnel back to the United Kingdom. We will retain key military personnel throughout the country to ensure the Iraqi Government, Global Coalition and UK national interests are appropriately supported. For the time being a contingent of essential UK personnel will remain in Taji Military Complex.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
What recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the Government's decision to withdraw from leading the EU battlegroup in 2019.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
In March this year, given ongoing negotiations about post-Brexit arrangements between the UK and EU, we decided to withdraw our provisional offer to lead an EU Battlegroup in the second half of 2019.
Our decision gave good time for another Member State to take on the role.
The UK/EU Withdrawal Agreement has confirmed that the UK may not lead an EU Battlegroup during the Implementation Period.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many live quarry have been killed during a trial hunt on Ministry of Defence land in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The number of live quarry killed during trail or drag hunting on Ministry of Defence land in the past five years is shown below:
Year | Number of Live Kills recorded |
2012-2013 | 1 |
2013-2014 | 0 |
2014-2015 | 0 |
2015-2016 | 0 |
2016-2017 | 0 |
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many licences for trail hunts have been issued for Ministry of Defence land in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The information requested is not held in the format requested.