Old soldiers, new jargon

Understanding mental illness is essential to ensuring former soldiers get the pension they deserve.

So is an appreciation of the sacrifices these men and women have made while fighting for Britain. At the moment, the Government seems capable of doing neither.

The current system, under which veterans are assessed by general practitioners rather than psychiatric specialists, illustrates how Ministers have failed to recognise the sacrifices made by soldiers. Instead, the Department for Work and Pensions appears to be more concerned with "medico-legal complexities" rather than simple concepts, such as fairness.

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The method of medical consultation, limited to just two hours, is nowhere near enough time to fully assess the problems from which a soldier is suffering.

Such an attitude is down to a desire to save money, a long-standing neglect of the Armed Forces and society's more general failure to appreciate the serious nature of mental health conditions.

It is a hammer blow to the former servicemen and women who are both some of the bravest people to be found, but also some of the most vulnerable.

After a working life spent in danger, they deserve a comfortable lifestyle in retirement. Yet many former soldiers have been left with deep psychological scars from their time on the front line. As the charity Combat Stress reports, one in four soldiers will suffer some form of mental illness and one in 20 will be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

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This comes after the Government was forced to issue a hasty promise

that it would correct another blunder in which up to 27,000 disabled veterans were told they would be taxed on their pensions.

All these former soldiers, whether they are mentally or physically ill, need a fair pension to get them through retirement. They are also entitled to it, and no amount of Government bluster, medico-legal jargon or political stone-walling can hide that fact.

Veterans should not have to run this gauntlet in order to get the help they need in retirement. They will do it, however, and they know that once again they have the backing of the country.