By IRNA,
London : Discrimination against the military is set to become a criminal offence in Britain, according to 40 recommendations made to promote greater protection and understanding of the country’s armed forces involved in two unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Proposal contained a report, National Recognition of our Armed Forces, ordered by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, also calls for more pupils to be encouraged to join cadet forces after opposition from teachers against the use of schools for recruitment.
In March, the National Union of Teachers voted to oppose military recruitment activities in schools if they employ “misleading propaganda,” saying young people must be given a true picture of army life, not a “marketized version.”
But the new report proposed the appointment of a “cadet ambassador” to liaise with schools, citing that of 6,400 high schools in the UK, only 260 had combined cadet forces and all but 60 were grammar and independent schools.
It called for a much better understanding of the role of the armed forces, including more interaction between base commanders and their local community, a more constructive relationship with the media, and more parades for regiments returning from Iraq or Afghanistan.
Other recommendations to boost the public perception of Britain’s beleaguered military included making an armed forces and veteran’s day.
Asked if one problem had been the unpopularity of the invasion of Iraq and Britain’s continuing military presence there, the report’s author Labour MP Quentin Davies said people should understand the distinction between deploying troops abroad and being sent there.
It was a matter for parliament and was “not their choice where they are sent,” Davies said.
Responding to the recommendations, Armed Forces Minister, Bob Ainsworth, said the government was engaged in how the new law could be introduced against the discrimination against military personnel, which he said was “totally and utterly unacceptable.”
A cross-government Service Personnel Command Paper would soon be published, which would set out the government’s proposals for “further improving the lives of our troops, their families and veterans,” Ainsworth said.