Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what constitutes official military evidence for the purpose of meeting the qualifying criteria for the Arctic Star.
Answered by Mike Penning
To be eligible to receive the Arctic Star, there must be official military evidence of at least one day's crossing into the Arctic Circle 66° 32N of the equator during the period 3 September 1939 to 8 May 1945 inclusive.
The following sources constitute official military evidence:
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the evidential thresholds to qualify for the Arctic Star and the Arctic Emblem differ.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Arctic Emblem (AE) was commissioned in 2006 to recognise the service of Armed Forces veterans who served in the Arctic Region between 3 September 1939 and 8 May 1945. The Arctic Star was instituted in 2012 following the first part of Sir John Holmes’ independent review into the rules and principles governing the award of military campaign medals. The Arctic Star adopted the AE’s criteria.
The two awards have a different evidential basis for eligibility which reflects their differing status. Although an official award instituted by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the AE was never intended to have the status of an official medal; greater latitude in assessing applications was deemed acceptable and a greater reliance placed on the accuracy of veterans’ or their next of kin’s accounts or recollections. Once the Arctic Star had been formally instituted as an official British Military Medal, applications were necessarily assessed by the MOD Medal Office with the same degree of rigour as is, and always has been, applied to the other World War II Stars and Medals.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2017 to Question 64541, what discussions his Department had with the Department for Exiting the European Union on the drafting of the White Paper entitled The United Kingdom's exit from and new partnership with the European Union, Cm 9417, published in February 2017.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Ministry of Defence, and other Departments, are working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union on all aspects of exiting the European Union.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Department for Exiting the European Union on the contents of the White Paper entitled The United Kingdom's exit from and new partnership with the European Union, Cm 9417, published in February 2017.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Ministry of Defence is working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union on all aspects of exiting the European Union to ensure there is a detailed understanding of how withdrawal from the European Union will affect Defence.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans the Government has to acknowledge and compensate for the damage caused to individuals as a result of the former ban on homosexual people serving in the armed forces.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) decided in January 2000 to allow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) personnel to serve openly in the UK Armed Forces. Since that time the Department has been working to create a more inclusive culture where everyone feels valued, regardless of their sexuality. The inclusion of all three Services in Stonewall's 2015 list of the top 100 employers for LGBT personnel is testament to our success in this arena.
At the time of our decision in 2000 to change the policy on serving LGBT personnel there were four legal cases brought by LGBT personnel against the MOD which had reached the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR ruled against the MOD and compensation was paid in full. Employment Tribunal applications on the same subject were also settled at the time and compensation was paid. There are no plans to provide further compensation.