Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will end his Department's pension payments to any former defence personnel who have served in any branch of the UK armed forces and who have fought alongside (a) Russian Federation military personnel and (b) Russian proxies in (i) Ukraine, (ii) North Africa and (iii) Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Armed Forces Pension Schemes allow for the forfeit of an individual’s pension entitlements where certain conditions are met. The conditions largely concern circumstances where the member has been convicted of a serious criminal offence. This power provides assurance that those who commit grave and serious crimes, connected with their service, that bring His Majesty’s Armed Forces into disrepute or cause grave injury to the interests of defence or the State, do not receive public funds in the form of an Armed Forces pension. Pension forfeiture is rare and requires consideration by the Secretary of State or the Defence Council.

The Ministry of Defence cannot comment on individual cases but further information on the general conditions under which forfeiture may be applied and the procedure to be followed when enacting forfeiture can be found at:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65ef14e35b6524100bf21ad6/Armed_Forces_Pension_Schemes_Pension_Forfeiture_Policy.pdf.