10th September 2010
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- Unions hot under the collar
- Tribunal claims rise further and staff who fabricate claims against employers liable for costs
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- UK armed forces winners and losers in the recession
- “Tempting a person of the opposite sex requires concentration and attention”
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UK armed forces winners and losers in the recession
More jobseekers are applying to join the UK armed forces and most are staying longer according to figures from the MoD but plans for a new training centre in Dundee have been a victim of cutbacks in public spending and the intervention of the Human Rights Act on a soldier’s “right to life” are yet to be fully tested.
On the recruitment front, figures show a 7.1% rise in applicants between 2007 and 2008, the numbers of people joining initial training was at its highest since 2003-2004 and at 97.2% of establishment the British Army is closer to full strength than at any time since the early 19th century. Sadly, training facilities are not increasing at the same rate with existing centres in Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire expected to handle the new recruits.
Meanwhile, families of soldiers killed in the line of duty could be free to sue the Ministry of Defence for negligence following a ruling on how the Human Rights Act applies to soldiers on the battlefield. In deciding in favour of the family of Private Jason Smith, a soldier who died of heat stroke in Iraq in 2003, the Court of Appeal have opened the door for the judiciary to retrospectively asses the decisions of commanders on the ground – not just in the barracks but on the front-line.
