UK GOVERNMENT REJECTS FULL LEAVE ENTITLEMENT FOR SERVICE PERSONNEL
Defence Minister Kevan Jones has rejected calls for service personnel to
receive their full leave allowance with no reduction for travel time in a
reply to SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson who wrote to the UK Minister on the issue.
The SNP have lodged motions in the Scottish Parliament and at Westminster
calling for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to revise its rules to ensure the
time it takes service personnel to travel home is not counted within their
leave allowance, said it was an incredible disappointment.
Commenting Mr Gibson said;
"In these times our service personnel are already doing a difficult,
dangerous and stressful job often in hostile territory thousands of miles
from home.
“This rejection by Kevan Jones is incredibly disappointing. That it ignores
the findings of the Army Families Federation’s Journal makes me wonder if he
is in touch with the opinions of service families?
“His rejection of how the US and Canadian forces are able to apply this
scheme is equally unconvincing.
"Time spent at home with family and friends is both precious and essential
to ensure our troops recuperate fully, operate at peak efficiency and
maintain high morale.
"The greatest irony is that the more dangerous and far flung a posting the
more time it takes to travel to and from postings, the less time service
personnel can enjoy with their families.
“Kevan Jones should reconsider his position and I urge the MoD to implement
such changes forthwith."
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