Labour Party: This is not a time for dogmatism, but time to start treating our Forces with the fairness they deserve - Murphy

Jim Murphy MP, Labour's Shadow Defence Secretary, responding to the Government’s publication of the new rates of war pensions and allowances proposed from April 2011, in line with CPI, said:

“The day after the Government announced their taskforce on the Military Covenant we see the true scale of their year-on-year hit to the pensions and allowances of war widows and our Armed Forces. 

“Ministers claim this move is about deficit reduction, but the impact will be felt long after the economy has returned to growth. People will find it hard to understand why men and women serving in Afghanistan now will receive poorer pensions in future and why war widows will have their entitlements hit every year. 

“The Government must listen to the concerns of charities and families. This is not a time for dogmatism, but time to start treating our Forces with the fairness they deserve.”