Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to review medal eligibility criteria for armed forces personnel injured in acts of terrorism while serving in the UK but not on operational deployment.

All UK medallic recognition is at the behest the monarch. He is advised by a Cabinet Office led system of committees that consider the merits of individual endeavour in various fields.

I am aware of calls for a specific acknowledgement for Service personnel who are injured in the course of their military careers, either during military conflict or through incidents of terrorism. For that reason, officials in the Ministry of Defence are considering this issue, looking at whether a defined ‘Injury Medal’ would be the best method of recognition in such circumstances, and whether such an award would be viable.

This work is at an early stage, and it would not be appropriate to speculate on whether such an award may be instituted, nor precisely what it might look like in terms of eligibility.