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ARTICLE SUMMARY

Are Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers exploited?

THE Ministry of Defence was attacked yesterday for paying out almost £500,000 to a typist diagnosed with a form of repetitive strain injury.

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THE MEDIA DONT HELP ONE BIT!

18.08.07, 2:24pm

Thanks to the irresponsible reporting from the media, a petition has been running for the past 6 months on the official 10 Downing Street site asking that they NOT be allowed to report any military deaths until such a time as their next of kin have been correctly and formally notified.

Tragically last year alone there were over half a dozen situations whereby the media did not wait for facts to be verified before reporting - and families found out first on the news that their loved one was killed on duty when those terrifying workds "next of kin have yet to be informed" were uttered both on the TV and radio as well as in the papers and on the internet.

This is just too sickening for words.

Since the petition started there has been a significant change in the way that military - and even civilian - deaths have been reported, with the media now stating "next of kin have been notified". They have slipped up though several times, with Sky News and the BBC to name a few being on the receiving end of complaints about such reporting.

Together we can ensure that reporting is done in a sensitive and respectful manner. Its not necessary to be the first to report a death, it is however necessary to make sure that you are reporting all the facts and the most important one to the thousands of families this directly affects is that the Next of Kin have been informed. Because then you know that YOU have not had that knock on the door and you know that it is not your family who will be grieving.

The petition is at

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/NOKinformed/

so feel free to sign if you want, or to pass the link on. The petition closes on 19th August 2007 so PLEASE sign it to make a difference that could one day affect you personally.

• Posted by: ViksterReport Comment

GROSS NEGLIGENCE

11.08.07, 11:39pm

Is it any wonder, that our men and women in our armed forces must be be thinking what kind of a mickey mouse bunch of idiots they are working for!? Is it any wonder then, that many of them are wanting out of the mickey mouse outfit they find themselves trapped in!? When this country squanders millions on usless civilians, in usless jobs, taking from our frontline troops when they need it most, it's enough to make me, an ex armed forces veteran want to lie down and die!! There has never been a time in my life, that I have been so ashamed to call myself British, as I do right now. This country is now on the brink of absolute and utter disgrace! And unfortunately, it now seems that the people of this once great country are going to stand by and let it happen! May God have mercy on all our misreble souls!

• Posted by: peterthepainterReport Comment

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AFFIRMATIVE

09.08.07, 11:20pm

too many men from iraq are hanging around here while our boys do their job for them. the translators are helping us to help them, we do not owe them.

• Posted by: WHAT4Report Comment

ARE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN SOLDIERS EXPLOITED?

05.08.07, 6:40pm

All our armed forces are being exploited,now more have been promised to Defur.
Politicians start wars,the pity is they do not have to fight in them,no, its not good enough to say that fighting is what a soldier does but he/she should not be expected to put their lives on the line with dodgy equipment etc. in any war especially those wars which are not in defence of the realm,the two conflicts mentioned have escalated out of hand and service personnel are dying needlessly becaus no politician who started them can stop them,they just go on sending young people to those hell holes, not spending enough money to make sure they are all looked after but at the same time they are still enjoying their junkets,cash shortages or not.
Can any politician say how long these conflicts will last, they will hedge but not put their heads on the block,families will mourn ,a part of a generation lost in the end, for what?

• Posted by: MaggieReport Comment

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WHAT DO I THINK

02.08.07, 12:39pm

You would not be able to print it.

• Posted by: Jay_RReport Comment

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TYPIST AND £500.000 VERSES SOLDIERS

02.08.07, 9:20am

THE MIND BOGGLES, a few years ago I fell over
a steel bar in a super market and hurt my knee and back, and was advised to go and see a solicitor, now he brought an official claim`s list and showed it to me, and each injury on this list starting from little finger £100.00 maximum full stop, to back injury £2000.00 full stop that's for Joe public of coarse so how the hell in gods name did this typist with repetitive strain get
£500,000 thousand when with care this can be cured or at least made a lot easier, which is more than you can say for soldiers who lose a leg/arm/sight or at worse be killed, WHAT A BIZZAR WORLD WE LIVE IN

• Posted by: ANNRReport Comment

ARE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN SOLDIERS EXPLOITED

01.08.07, 10:04am

Just make me ashamed to be British. If I was 21 again I would be looking for a way out of Britain like I gather many people are.

Whole award is obscene and more money than most hardworking people will see in their lives. But then again it just reflects the depths that Britain has plumed since Labour where elected. And working class people who are really paying for this still vote Labour!

• Posted by: chris49Report Comment

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COMMUNIST "LABOUR" HAVE ALWAYS TREATED TROOPS LIKE SCUM.

01.08.07, 7:46am

What do you expect from a bunch of imbiciles in "Government" that have ALWAYS thought of, and treated, the armed forces as scum?

• Posted by: von_SpreuthReport Comment

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT

31.07.07, 9:49pm

Erm forgive me for asking a stupid question ....
what exactly are our soldiers doing in iraq and afghanistan ?
why are our British soldiers dieing ?for something that has nothing to do with us ?

and to the article . what else do you expect ?
these are soldiers we are talking about .
do your duty then get lost basically.
when has any government ever cared about our soldiers?
never.

• Posted by: jessicaReport Comment

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DOPE PEDDLING

31.07.07, 11:44am

Is this judge one of the "cannabis users " the Government were referring to?.
He should hang his head in shame .
MoD = Ministry of DumbF*****

• Posted by: xbrummieReport Comment

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TOP MARKS FOR STUPIDITY

31.07.07, 8:29am

One more for the PC Brigade. Stike the Judge off for grose misconduct and make all these claims go through a panel of ordinary people who value the claims. I wonder how much the lawyers got out of this and how much it cost on legal aid. The fiddles go on and on.

• Posted by: Save_BritainReport Comment

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SOLDIERS MORAL MUST BE LOWEST EVER WITH THIS SORT OF NONSENSE!

30.07.07, 11:16pm

"Are Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers exploited? " The answer has to be yes. The British troops serving in the Middle East are fighting a war that was started by Bush and that lying toe-rag Blair. The present administration with Brown as the new leader is simply following on from Blair.
Moral must be rock bottom for all our troops when they read story's about typists getting £500,000 for a repetitive strain injury, she as the recipient, should feel totally ashamed of herself.
The present attitude shown to our front-line soldiers by this government and military top brass, shows more contempt and inhumane indifference to these troops, than the authorities and generals during WW1.
I'm amazed if the armed services are still able to recruit new people, when the present army personnel (with the exception of civilian typists)
are treated like dirt!

• Posted by: stevegReport Comment

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WHEN I WAS SERVING

30.07.07, 7:04pm

We Used to say:

We the unwilling,
sent by the unqualified,
to do the unnecessary,
for the ungrateful.

I guess nothing has changed, nor will it while LabLibCon puppetmasters are in power.

VOTE BNP

• Posted by: RustyReport Comment

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OBSCENE PAYOUT: MAY SHE, ONE DAY, FACE A MAJOR MEDICAL CRISIS

30.07.07, 2:13pm

Our troop’s welfare has never been a priority with this government. This obscene payout, however, is enough to make one toss one’s biscuits, fly into a rage or both. Being overtly cynical, I keep on thinking, nothing this government does will shock and awe me… yet it continues to do so.
MoD and all involved in this perverse payout should not only be embarrassed (they likely aren’t) but resign. The poor benefactor and her lawyers, is as despicable as the aforementioned.
May she, one day, face a major medical crisis… as mentioned, I am shamelessly cynical.


• Posted by: misanthropeReport Comment

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING

30.07.07, 12:07pm

This woman got a fortune for absolutely nothing. Now what can I think of to sue for and then retire on the proceeds. This American style litigation is now so out of hand its time a bit of common sense was applied to put a stop to it.

• Posted by: Maggie59Report Comment

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