75m redress scheme to be launched for veterans who suffered under gay ban

Veterans who suffered mistreatment in the armed forces under the “gay ban” will receive up to £70,000 each as part of a £75 million scheme being launched by the Government.

Defence Secretary John Healey described the historic wrongs faced by LGBT+ service personnel as a “moral stain on our nation”, ahead of applications for the financial redress programme opening on Friday.

The total amount available will be £75 million, exceeding the cap of £50 million recommended in an independent review by Lord Etherton on the impact of the ban.

Under the policy, which lasted until the year 2000, members of the armed who were – or were thought to be – gay or transgender were subjected to brutal interrogation and dismissal.

Some have suffered lifelong consequences, being left without access to their military pensions, shunned by family and friends and facing diminished career prospects.

The previous Tory government accepted in full the recommendations of Lord Etherton’s report into the policy in December 2023, which included a proposal for a financial awards scheme capped at £50 million.

But campaigners and charities including the Royal British Legion said the figure was “inadequate and unacceptably low” and demanded a better payout.

The Ministry of Defence said it had increased the amount after “extensive engagement with LGBT veterans”.

Veterans who were dismissed or discharged because of their sexual orientation or gender identity are to receive £50,000.

Personnel who were “negatively affected” by the ban during their time in the service between 1967 and 2000 will be given up to another £20,000, the ministry said.

The payments will be exempt from income tax and means-tested benefits.

Veterans who lost their rank as a result can apply to have their rank restored and discharge reason amended if they wish, ministers have said.

Defence Secretary John Healey said: “The historic treatment of LGBT veterans was a moral stain on our nation. Our Government is determined to right the wrongs of the past and recognise the hurt that too many endured.

“We have listened to veterans and will continue to deliver against the recommendations set out in the Etherton review. We will continue to support our veterans as we work to renew the nation’s contract with those who serve, and have served.

“This work was rightly started by the previous government, and will be taken forward and delivered by this Government.”

Veterans minister Alistair Carns said the Government was taking “urgent action” to redress a “shameful chapter in the history of our armed forces”.

However, campaigners who were hoping for a greater increase to the initial figure have expressed disappointment with the final sum.

Craig Jones, whose charity Fighting with Pride was among those leading calls for compensation, said the amount would give “some degree of comfort” to those worst affected but was “not what we hoped for”.

He told the PA news agency: “To the Ministry of Defence’s credit, they have worked very hard to get this scheme out quickly, which is great – it’s just that the final amount will inevitably disappoint a lot of people.

“The money that’s being made available will give some degree of comfort to those most affected but we will have to look again in the future because this is a shorter-term fix and these veterans in five or 10 years’ time will still not have pensions to rely on.”

The former Royal Navy officer added: “In my years of serving, I watched many of my colleagues marched away by the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police, and I watched that happen with great sadness.

“I was lucky not to get caught, but it’s been a privilege and an honour to go back, as we do in the armed forces, and find those who have not fared so well and to support them – not to a perfect resolution but to a better resolution.”

The Financial Recognition Scheme and other restorative measures will be debated in the House of Commons on Thursday, with a portal for applications opening on Friday.

Several veterans affected by the LGBT+ ban have been invited by the Government to watch in Parliament.

Speaking before the announcement, Tremaine Cornish, an Army Commando who earned a prestigious green beret, said he was “close to being homeless again” after he was forced to leave the service in the 1970s.

He added: “I look at how people who had a full career, as we all anticipated, have done well. I know many I joined up with who got commissions and did well and now have a nice home.

“Now I am in a situation where I have been told by my housing association, ‘you have got to go, because we are getting rid of the property’.”

In correspondence with parliamentarians, ministers have insisted the proposed payments should not be referred to as compensation or compared with the financial packages for the Horizon and infected blood scandals.

This is because ministers have argued the scheme does not aim to recompense the veterans for lost earnings they may have suffered because of the ban, PA understands.

The Ministry of Defence has previously said it deeply regrets how LGBT armed forces personnel were treated between 1967 and 2000 when the ban was in place.

It was “wholly unacceptable and does not reflect today’s armed forces”, the Government department said.

Published: 12/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub