LGBT veterans hit by ‘gay ban’ fear rollback on reparations promises

LGBT veterans who suffered historic abuse in the armed forces fear the new Labor government will not follow through on promises of restitution.

In opposition, Labor pledged to meet calls from a parliamentary debate on reparations for armed forces personnel who suffered abuse before the so-called “gay ban” was lifted in 2000.

He also appeared willing to reconsider the £50m cap on a compensation scheme that launched the Tories in government, according to the charity Fighting With Pride.

But there are now fears Labor could renege on those promises, according to the group’s campaign manager Craig Jones, a former Royal Navy officer.

Survivors of the scandal endured days of sometimes brutal interrogation when it was discovered they were gay; many were dismissed from the forces, lost job opportunities and rejected by families and friends.

An independent review into the historic abuse of LGBT veterans concluded last year and followed a series of high-profile inquiries into the Grenfell Tower fire and the contaminated blood and Post Office Horizon scandals which also they promised compensation packages.

Jones claimed that LGBT veterans were a “poor relative” to the victims of these other scandals and deserved the same level of public awareness and compensation.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “My main concern at the moment is that there has been a shift in the wind in Labor since they came to power, and … they seem determined not to deliver on the government the promises they made to the opposition.”

Fighting with Pride, which was set up to advocate for those affected by the ban, wants to work with the government on detailing the compensation plan, but Jones said ministers had failed to communicate their plans with the charity .

Jones also warned that the £50m global payout cap could leave some battered veterans with a “derisive” amount of compensation.

The charity estimates around 2,500 veterans would apply for the scheme, figures it says are likely to be more accurate than the government figure of 4,000.

According to the official estimate, the current cap scheme would provide those caught up in the scandal with one-off payments of £12,500 on average, an amount previously raised by MPs in the Commons.

A six-figure sum would seem more like restitution for the “people who have lost so much” because of the scandal, according to Jones, although not everyone entitled to compensation would require it.

The money would help them get out of expensive rental accommodation, give them “sufficient income” in their old age and even help some without savings pay for their funerals.

Jones added: “The payouts they are aiming for for more LGBT veterans are of a totally different magnitude and less than Horizon, tainted blood and Grenfell.

“There are four schemes that are being controlled by the National Sindicatura. We are one of them, but we are by far the poor relatives, in fact, by a factor of at least 10.

“But the circumstances compared, especially to Horizon, are incredibly similar. People lost their careers, their homes, were vilified in their communities, served prison sentences and have lived their lives in the ashes of the lives they had before.

“I don’t want to be competitive with Horizon, but that was started by our people in the late ’60s.”

After the conclusion of the inquiry into the scandal in 2023, then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a public apology in the House of Commons.

Ben Wallace, then the defense secretary, said there would be a parliamentary debate on financial compensation for veterans so MPs could scrutinize the plans, but this did not materialize as planned.

Labor Defense Secretary John Healey held several talks with the charity while in opposition, Jones said, including holding the debate.

He added: “At the time, he was extremely supportive and ridiculed the then Tory government’s plans to compensate LGBT veterans and veterans.

“It is incredibly disappointing that he has not had time to meet with Fighting with Pride during his tenure as Secretary of State, and it is particularly disappointing that, as far as we can see, the Labor Government intends to persist with the plans that they explained in private. we were unacceptable to them.”

A Ministry of Defense official is said to have indicated during a recent meeting of more than 100 veterans organized by Fighting With Pride that a parliamentary debate on financial compensation is not likely to begin before the compensation plan is launched.

“So, in our view, they are deliberately avoiding parliamentary scrutiny at the point of delivering the plan,” Jones said.

He added: “Given that Secretary of State John Healey on December 12 gave his predecessor a hard time on this very issue, that’s a bit rich.

“It is a breach of promise, and this scheme should not go ahead until Parliament has had a chance to have a say.”

The campaigner continued: “If we have values ​​as a nation, if we support our armed forces, if we believe in the pact, the nation’s promise to our armed forces, then there needs to be a key moment for veterans LGBT, after which we can look back and say bad things were done in their time, but in the end we did the right thing.”

A Ministry of Defense spokesman said: “We deeply regret the treatment of LGBT service personnel between 1967 and 2000, which was totally unacceptable and does not reflect today’s Armed Forces. We are fully committed to ensuring that this issue receives parliamentary scrutiny .

“We have already implemented 32 of the 49 recommendations of the LGBT Veterans Review and are working with experts across government to establish an appropriate financial compensation scheme and will provide further details later this year.”