Window Seat for Sleeping.

[snoop1130]

40,000 toy soldiers highlight plight of injured British veterans

 

 

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - An installation of 40,000 miniature toy soldiers in a shopping centre in Manchester, northern England, highlights the plight that many British soldiers face if their careers are ended by injury.

 

The small green plastic figures represent the number of veterans that have been medically discharged over the last 20 years and campaigners say more should be done to support them.

 

Seven of the figures, placed at the front of the installation in Manchester’s Arndale Centre, are models of real veterans who have had amputations or been left in wheelchairs after serving in the armed forces.

 

“Injuries have ended 40,000 military careers in 20 years and every day this number grows. Many of them tell us that their transition impacted significantly on their health, wellbeing and family,” Mel Waters, chief executive of Help for Heroes, said in a statement.

 

“The medical discharge process is seriously failing those who are let down by major inconsistencies in support, so we’re calling on the government to commission an independent review of the process to close those gaps.”

 

British troops have been deployed in countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone over the last 20 years.

 

However, Help for Heroes says that over 10,000 men and women have been discharged on medical grounds since the end of combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014, even though British Armed Forces have not been engaged in active conflict in that period.

 

A survey conducted on behalf of the charity found that 70% of those discharged said the transition to civilian life was a negative experience.

 

About 40% percent of the 403 surveyed said the transition period was not long enough, while nearly half said they were discharged without a full diagnosis for their injury or illness.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-10-08

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[ratcatcher]

Never mind the veterans, look after the illegal immigrants and ISIS fighters.

Hopefully after Brexit this month, the government can get back to the real business of taking care of the country and look after those that sacrificed for their country.

[PremiumLane]

2 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Never mind the veterans, look after the illegal immigrants and ISIS fighters.

Hopefully after Brexit this month, the government can get back to the real business of taking care of the country and look after those that sacrificed for their country.

well there is always one isn't there, try actually doing some research instead of reading the Daily Mail and The Sun.

 

I like how government policy is somehow dictated by immigrants and ISIS. And did you read the parliamentary white paper that said that at no time under the EU had the UK government lost its sovereignty.... guessing not

 

And you did know that under EU rules a country can set border controls how they want.... guessing not again

[justin case]

they knew the risks

 

who asked them to fight an invisible enemy in a foreign land that has nothing to do with 9/11 or other <deleted>

[Baerboxer]

17 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

well there is always one isn't there, try actually doing some research instead of reading the Daily Mail and The Sun.

 

I like how government policy is somehow dictated by immigrants and ISIS. And did you read the parliamentary white paper that said that at no time under the EU had the UK government lost its sovereignty.... guessing not

 

And you did know that under EU rules a country can set border controls how they want.... guessing not again

 

Not sure why you want to confuse these matters.

 

There is a lot of angry people in the UK. Angry at how military veterans, old people, poor people, vulnerable people are being treated compared to people who entered the country illegally. There is a growing anger that the woman stripped of her British citizenship for joining ISIS, whose husband is Dutch, being apparently let back in the country via the back door with media blanket. (And Tony Blair's wife Cherrie will represent her at tax payer's expense!). They are also angry at the prosecution witch hunts of ex servicemen when terrorists have been given free pardons. 

 

Those angry people voted remain, leave or didn't vote. 

 

As for Brexit, the fake information spread about sovereignty, the EU Court of Justice, the Lisbon Treaty, the laws on employment and finance appertaining to freedom of movement etc etc is massive. And many many people have been taken in by it. This has been the real Project Fear - inventing and spreading urban myths about the EU whilst suppressing the actual facts. But that has nothing to do with the way veterans and other groups are being treated by the wealthy elite self interested political class.

 

 

[Baerboxer]

2 hours ago, justin case said:

they knew the risks

 

who asked them to fight an invisible enemy in a foreign land that has nothing to do with 9/11 or other <deleted>

 

Good job you weren't being relied on in 1914-18 or 1939-45 isn't it.

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Good job you weren't being relied on in 1914-18 or 1939-45 isn't it.

you forgot the Napoleonic wars, hey what about the Boer war.

I suppose if I had lived during the the first war I would have been a product of the times and been a sheep to the slaughter like all the other idiots who couldn't wait to get at the Hun, adventure of a lifetime. Soldiers don't sacrifice their lives for their country, "it isn't going to happen to me", if they were told that they would 100% die fighting for king and country nobody would go to war. Later the poor sods were called up and had no choice. in today's army joining up is voluntary so it's a job you want to do, a chance to travel and shoot people with the chance of being killed or maimed yourself, it's a choice that comes with a risk that you have to carry, no point in whinging if it goes wrong. 

[Benmart]

8 hours ago, justin case said:

they knew the risks

 

who asked them to fight an invisible enemy in a foreign land that has nothing to do with 9/11 or other <deleted>

So glad you weren't ever serving...or were you? I did, for a bit over 20 years. Never was asked. Never thought about it. Never questioned my freedom to make that choice.

 

Your misguided ideals of what it takes to preserve your right to tap out such trivel is...astounding.

 

Hand salute to those that serve, have served and those that never returned.

Edited October 9, 2019 by Benmart

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, Benmart said:

So glad you weren't ever serving...or were you? I did, for a bit over 20 years. Never was asked. Never thought about it. Never questioned my freedom to make that choice.

 

Your misguided ideals of what it takes to preserve your right to tap out such trivel is...astounding.

 

Hand salute to those that serve, have served and those that never returned.

He probably did a useful job whereas you wanted to play cowboys and indians, if you lose your legs playing well that's the rule of the game. Firefighters and policemen also lose their lives doing their jobs but they are doing something positive.

[beautifulthailand99]

A scandal that we have to have a charity poppy appeal every year when the state asks for volunteers to risk life and limb for the politicians plans. Whilst I'm a pacifist and anti-war I have every respect for vets and serving soldiers. They say 40% of the homeless are vets often with injuries and PTSD - where's the justice in that whilst criminals like Blair make millions and lives a life of luxury. 

[beautifulthailand99]

On 10/8/2019 at 11:56 AM, ratcatcher said:

Never mind the veterans, look after the illegal immigrants and ISIS fighters.

Hopefully after Brexit this month, the government can get back to the real business of taking care of the country and look after those that sacrificed for their country.

The state has never given a sheet for soldiers when they have served their purpose. They use you ,abuse you and throw you on the scrapheap when you have served your purpose. Just imagine Thailand's soldiers turned their weapons on their lords and masters and refused to bow and scrape to the rich elites that impoverished their lives - that would be real justice.