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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Vera Lynn attacks MoD 'haggling' | Vera Lynn attacks MoD 'haggling' |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Wartime "forces sweetheart" Dame Vera Lynn has branded the "endless" legal wrangling over payments to veterans of the first Gulf War a scandal. | Wartime "forces sweetheart" Dame Vera Lynn has branded the "endless" legal wrangling over payments to veterans of the first Gulf War a scandal. |
| Dame Vera and ex-Formula One champion Sir Jackie Stewart have written to Chancellor Gordon Brown accusing the Ministry of Defence of "haggling". | |
| About 6,000 veterans say they are suffering from illnesses they claim derive from the 1990-91 conflict. | About 6,000 veterans say they are suffering from illnesses they claim derive from the 1990-91 conflict. |
| The Treasury said it has not received the letter and cannot comment. | The Treasury said it has not received the letter and cannot comment. |
| 'Honourable closure' | 'Honourable closure' |
| In their letter, Dame Vera and Sir Jackie say that the US Government readily acknowledges "a causal link between the conflict and the illnesses". | In their letter, Dame Vera and Sir Jackie say that the US Government readily acknowledges "a causal link between the conflict and the illnesses". |
| "But here, our veterans who fought shoulder to shoulder with US troops in liberating Kuwait have been subjected to endless and expensive legal haggling in courts and tribunals," the pair write. | "But here, our veterans who fought shoulder to shoulder with US troops in liberating Kuwait have been subjected to endless and expensive legal haggling in courts and tribunals," the pair write. |
| "Moreover the Ministry of Defence refuses even to tell parliamentarians how much it has spent on legal costs, met by taxpayers". | "Moreover the Ministry of Defence refuses even to tell parliamentarians how much it has spent on legal costs, met by taxpayers". |
| They have called on Mr Brown to intervene personally "to bring this appalling state of affairs to an honourable closure". | They have called on Mr Brown to intervene personally "to bring this appalling state of affairs to an honourable closure". |
| Labour peer, Lord Morris of Manchester, the former minister for the disabled who, along with the Royal British Legion, supports this latest action; has called for the government to make ex-gratia payments to suffering veterans in settlement of the claims. | Labour peer, Lord Morris of Manchester, the former minister for the disabled who, along with the Royal British Legion, supports this latest action; has called for the government to make ex-gratia payments to suffering veterans in settlement of the claims. |
| Lord Morris said: "US Gulf veterans say 'a nation that can't afford to act justly towards its veterans can't afford to go to war'". | Lord Morris said: "US Gulf veterans say 'a nation that can't afford to act justly towards its veterans can't afford to go to war'". |