Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the merits of issuing a National Defence Medal to military personnel to recognise their service to their country.

This Government continues to hold those who serve, and who have served, in our Armed Forces, in the highest esteem.

The question of whether a National Defence Medal should be introduced has previously been considered at length. The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) made its recommendation not to proceed with such a medal following the Independent Military Medals Review in 2012, which is publicly available at Military medals review: report by Sir John Holmes - GOV.UK. Any further review of this issue would be for the independent Advisory Military Sub-Committee to consider, and to make appropriate recommendations to its parent HD Committee, not the Ministry of Defence.