Campaign increases for a National Defence Medal for all Armed Forces
Tuesday 8 February 2011 8:03 AM
Defence Secretary Liam Fox is facing pressure to introduce a service medal for everyone who has been in the forces.
He has resisted calls for a National Defence Medal but is currently reviewing the military award system.
On Tuesday, he will face a Commons onslaught by MPs led by Labour’s Denis MacShane, who said: “There are many cases of those who have seen active service without reward. In every conflict, many have been ignored.”
In the 1950s Cyprus campaign, when 371 Brits died, servicemen needed to be on the island for 120 days to get a medal.
Now, soldiers serving in Afghanistan qualify for their campaign medal after a month. Mr MacShane says gongs should also go to survivors of the two million who did national service until 1960, plus nuclear test veterans.
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