BONUSES FOR BUREAUCRATS WHILE BEREAVED MILITARY FAMILIES WAIT FOR COMPENSATION

BONUSES FOR BUREAUCRATS WHILE BEREAVED MILITARY FAMILIES WAIT FOR COMPENSATION

SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP has expressed anger at the revelations of Ministry of Defence officials being paid £47 million in bonuses, while compensation payments for the families of 14 service personnel killed when RAF Nimrod XV230 exploded in Afghanistan more than three years ago remain unsettled with the UK government.

Mr Robertson, the MP for Moray, whose constituency is home to the Nimrod fleet at Kinloss, raised the issue during Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons last week, at which time Gordon Brown said he would look at the matter and write to the MP - Mr Robertson is still waiting to hear from the prime minister.

Mr Robertson said:

"These bonuses for bureaucrats are especially hard to swallow when the bereaved families of service personnel are still waiting for compensation three years after they lost their loved ones.

"When our forces are overstretched and budgets are overspent it seems both incensitive and unbelievable that the UK Government would pay these bonuses. It totally reinforces the view that the culture and priorities in the MoD need to change.

"The widows, partners and families of the service personnel who died aboard Nimrod XV230 have repeatedly said that compensation cannot replace the loss of their loved ones. Never the less it is a sad fact that these families have waited three years are still waiting for the completion of compensation arrangements."