A campaign has been launched to put right yet another injustice in the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).

As it stands, those injured during the first four years of the War on Terror, i.e between 2001 and 2005, receive considerably less compensation than that paid out to those injured later in the war.

At least 100 service personnel seriously injured at the start of the campaigns receive virtually nothing, £150 a week if they're lucky.

As the campaign says: "Fairness dictates that, given the sacrifices made by British troops in service of our country in Afghanistan and Iraq, each soldier seriously injured in these theatres should benefit from the same compensation arrangements, enabling them a decent on-going quality of life".

The campaign is being headed by Col. Richard Kemp, former Royal Anglian and former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, and supported by the Daily Telegraph newspaper which has for some time been running its own campaign "Justice for Wounded" seeking fairness in the AFCS.

Although the government has recently been forced to make improvements in the compensation awarded under the AFCS, it has failed to provide adequate compensation for all those injured in the war. As Col Kemp says: "The arbitrary date chosen by the MoD means that soldiers who have been left severely disabled while fighting for their country have been left far less able to rebuild their lives than comrades in the same battle zones".

The country has asked these brave men and women to put their lives on the line for us, it is morally indefensible not to pay them fair compensation for the injuries they received when doing so.

To bring pressure on the government to recognise the sacrifices made by all of those seriously injured in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, sign the petition at Number10: Lives on the Line

The Telegraph: Former Afghanistan commander accuses ministers over 'shameful' compensation for injured soldiers

The Telegraph: Justice for Wounded

The government has rejected the petition calling for a public inquiry into the use of Snatch Land Rovers.

The detail of the online petition read: “Families of those killed in Snatch Land Rovers, as well as injured soldiers, wish to call upon Defence Secretary John Hutton to instigate an independent public inquiry into the use of the Snatch Land Rover in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Since 2003 there have been complaints that Snatch are too lightly armoured to provide adequate protection, however the MOD continues to send soldiers out in them. 38 soldiers have lost their lives in them, with many more injured."

In rejecting the request the government said:
The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to protect our Armed Forces serving on operations around the world. That is why we are doing everything we can to improve the levels of vehicle protection. Since summer 2006, we have approved over £1.3Bn from the Reserve – which is on top of the standard defence budget. This money has gone towards improving existing vehicles, such as upgrading Bulldog (£180M), and on introducing new vehicles, such as the world-leading Mastiff (£260M) and Ridgback (£188M). All of these vehicles have very impressive levels of protection. Furthermore, we are procuring a new, better-armoured tracked vehicle to replace Viking in Afghanistan (£137M). The Ministry of Defence is working hard to get all these out to where they’re needed as quickly as possible.

While we will continue to do our utmost to improve vehicle protection, the military advice is that there continues to be an important role for more mobile vehicles such as Jackal, WMIK – and Snatch. However, as the better-protected Snatch Vixen Plus is introduced we will be able to limit use of the current Snatch Land Rover to duties within our camps.

We do not believe that a public inquiry into the use of Snatch Land Rovers is needed or would be likely to save lives in future. However, the Independent Iraq Inquiry announced by the Prime Minister on 15 June will be able to look into issues on equipment as well as all other issues relating to UK involvement in Iraq.

E-Petitions: Snatch Land Rover

The government's shameful decision to seek to reduce (by 70%) the compensation paid to two injured soldiers has sparked a petition demanding comparable levels of compensation for the military as is paid in civil cases.

The petition castigates the MoD for the disgraceful way it is trying to claw back the compensation from the very people for whom it should have a duty of care, all in the interests of budget saving.

If you would like to sign the petition, visit the website below.

Examples of how the Forces lose out:

No.10 e-petitions: parity rates of compensation to injured members of the Armed Forces

For the last 18 months the residents of Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire have lined their local high street to pay their respects and to honour fallen soldiers who are being repatriated back to Britain.
All UK service personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are brought back home to RAF Lyneham and from there along the B3102

through Wootton Bassett and on to the mortuary at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Over 100 times now the townspeople have paid their final salute to a passing flag-draped coffin and last October the Armed Forces officially thanked them by holding a parade and flypast in the town.

There are now two petitions on the Number 10 ePetitions website which seek to get the Government to recognise what the town does in an official and permanent way. Twinning the town with the Armed Forces, setting up a plaque in the town centre or renaming the stretch of the B3102 as "Highway of Heroes" are some suggestions which have been made.

Highway of Heroes
The petition reads: Rename the streach of road (B3102) between RAF Lyneham and Wootton Basset, "HIGHWAY OF HEROES" to honour ALL those of our Military who have given their lives in the service of their Country
Number10 ePetitions: Highway of Heroes
The Sun: Heroes Highway

Wootton Bassett recognition
The petition reads: "The people of Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire turn out constantly and selflessly to honour the servicemen and women who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and should be recognised by the Government for this meaningful act. It would be nice to see some sort of meaningful recognition and not just a line spoken in Parliament. A lot of people in the country are proud of what the town is doing and would like to see the Government recognise it too."
Number10 ePetitions: Wootton Bassett
This is Wiltshire: Petition bid to recognise Wootton Bassett's patriotism

The British Government has yet to agree to the repatriation of the plaques and there is still talk of the Memorial staying in Basra or being moved to the British Embassy in Baghdad. The petition is asking Gordon Brown to agree to bring the plaques home where they will be both revered and protected.

As Carol has said: "The families of fallen soldiers have been campaigning for a long time now to get the Memorial Wall Plaques in Basra back here in Britain. Our Forces laid these plaques and they mean so much to the families. Please sign my petition and pass it on to your friends."

Number10 e-Petitions: Memorial Wall
ITNSource: 2008 Poppy Appeal launched in Basra (at the Memorial Wall)

and Afghanistan conflicts. The petition has been set up on behalf of the families of those killed in Snatch Land Rovers as well as injured soldiers. Despite the complaints and concerns, raised by soldiers in the field and coroners in the UK, that Snatch are too lightly armoured to provide adequate protection, the MOD continues to send soldiers out in them. 38 soldiers have now lost their lives in them and many more have been injured.

Help put pressure on the Defence Secretary to instigate a public inquiry by signing the petition.

Number10 e-Petitions: Snatch Land Rover

Wootton Bassett recognition
Petition to recognise the contribution made by the town of Wootton Bassett in honouring Britain's fallen soldiers (closes 08/11/09)

Highway of Heroes
Rename the stretch of the B3102 from RAF Lyneham to Wootton Bassett "Highway of Heroes" (closes 27/01/10)

Basra Memorial Wall
Petition to bring to bring the Basra Memorial Plaques back to Great Britain, preferably Alrewas Memorial Aboretum,Staffordshire (closes 27/05/09)

Public Inquiry into Snatch Land Rovers
Petition to get the Government to instigate a public inquiry into the use of the Snatch Land Rover in the Iraq (closes 20/05/09)

Homefront
Petition to allow service personnel R/R to start from the time they reach their home town (closes 22/04/09)

Support Our Soldiers - Remove ATM Charges
Petition to demand that banks abolish charges at ATM machines in bases occupied by HM Forces (closes 13/05/09)

Support Our Troops - Military Discounts
Petition to encourage shops and businesses to offer discounts to military personnel.

Queen and Country
Petition for a set of official postage stamps to commemorate those who have died for their country in Iraq

Support Forces
Petition to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP per annum for the next ten years - closed 28/11/08 with 1,096 signatures.

Gurkha Citizenship
Petition to give all Ex Gurkha soldiers and their families British citizenship on leaving the service - closed 26/11/08 with 40,239 signatures

Scrap "Pay As You Dine"
Petition by Parcels43 to scrap the controversial PAYD scheme - closed 16/11/08 with 162 signatures.

Dedicated military hospital
Petition requesting that the Government create a dedicated military hospital in the UK for the treatment of servicemen and women injured in the service of their country - closed 19/08/08 with 113,901 signatures

Injured Heroes
Petition to review the compensation awarded to British service men for severe injuries - closed 0n 01/07/08 with 1,448 signatures

Freepost for Armed Forces - closed 01/08/08 with 305 signatures

Visit to Basra - closed 14/05/08 with 303 signatures

National Remembrance Holiday - closed 18/04/08 with 531,058 signatures

Waive MoD charges for charities
Petition to urge the Prime Minister to wavier all MOD charges for charities engaged in assisting serving and former members of the armed forces and their families. (closes 28/09/08)

Priority Housing4XForces - closed 26/05/08 with 363 signatures

Forces Wages petition
Petition to urge the Government to give subsidiary pay to frontline British Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan - closed 21/08/08 with 2,997 signatures

Red Arrows petition
Petition for the Red Arrows to be allowed to perform at the London Olympics 2012 - closed 17/09/08 with 502,425 signatures.

Parcels43
Petition to reduce/ or free postage for serving soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq - closed 06/07/08 with 3,674 signatures.