In the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary broadcast this evening, Andrew Gilligan reported on disturbing evidence of how wounded Iraq veterans are being abandoned, how army recruitment has collapsed and the lengths to which the Ministry of Defence has gone to obscure statistics and prevent the full story emerging.
LFCM has more
According to the BBC News site Reid (then the Armed Forces Minister) is reported as below:
'And injured service people received the "best artificial limbs available – higher than the standard available in the National Health Service", Mr Reid added'.
Well that just about says it all. Reid, not concerned with the fact that we are involved at all, not really concerned about the fact that there are casualties, not prepared to divulge the extent of the casualties, is merely worried about tomorrow's headlines.
What on earth does this buffoon think? That armed forces personnel should be somehow overjoyed at the prospect of receiving a 'better quality' prosthetic than might be available to their kith and kin on the NHS? That the population will be pleased that armed forces personnel needing treatment get a 'better service' than the usual NHS patient? What has the Minister for Health got to say about this two-tier approach so admired by Reid?
No wonder he has been moved to the Home Office. Blair probably had to do that for Reid's personal safety. Maybe he needs to place him in 'protective custody'. Then again, that's possibly not such a good idea in the light of what goes on in our prisons and police cells….