How Britain lost respect for its veterans

 

Politico, Emilio Casalicchio, May 8, 2025 

 

Former service personnel who have seen the treatment of veterans in America think the U.K. could learn something — and make up for successive broken promises.

The Final Battle: Veterans fighting for compensation

 

Radio 4 - File on 4 Investigates, 26 Jun 2024

 

"There are two compensation schemes for veterans who’ve suffered injury or illness as a result of service - the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme - or AFCS - and the War Pension Scheme. The schemes are managed by Veterans UK which is an organisation run by the Ministry of Defence.

 

But veterans have long criticised both schemes. Some say they reject claims unfairly, and are slow to resolve them. File on 4 has been told in some cases it’s taken almost 12 years for a final decision to be made. How does the system work? And what is the impact on veterans who claim they have to fight for financial compensation for conditions they say are a result of their service? File on 4 hears from one ex-servicemen whose claim took over seven years to resolve, and from the family of another former soldier who took his life after his claim for PTSD was repeatedly turned down."

Britain's Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story

 

BBC Two, 27 Nov 2024

 

"This is the extraordinary story of Britain’s postwar atomic weapons programme and its devastating legacy. The film reveals the full extent of the British government’s nuclear tests in Australia and the South Pacific in the 1950s and 1960s.

 

39,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen witnessed 45 atomic and hydrogen bombs and hundreds of radioactive experiments. The documentary exposes the debilitating health conditions that have blighted the lives of veterans, descendants and indigenous communities ever since."