A poor reward

Mr Gibbs, who served in the RAF at an officer training unit in Dundee where he had the horrific task of removing dead or dying pilots from the wreckage of crashed aircraft, deserves to have his war pension backdated to 1944, rather than just to 1986. A Government which has been involved in so many military conflicts has a responsibility not just to serving members of the Armed Forces – who it has let down on equipment – but to those who have retired.

The reasons given for rejecting Mr Gibbs' plea are strange indeed. He was denied a military pension because his mental health problem, obsessional neurosis, was not recognised at the time yet he was awarded retirement benefits after it was realised he was suffering from several other disorders because of his experiences in the war.

This does not make sense and has left the MoD looking like a bureaucratic and heartless monolith. It would seem the department fears that if it gives in to Mr Gibbs, it will set a precedent which would leave it with a costly bill for thousands of other former servicemen. Few can have such a complex series of mental health problems as him, however, while those who do may also deserve a larger pension.

Much like the rest of Whitehall, the MoD has to make savings quickly but it must not simply crumble under this pressure. It should take its example from the likes of Mr Gibbs and countless others – and show some moral courage.