Trade union Unite tells of concerns about 2025 contract to administer civil service pension scheme
Retired firefighters who were responsible for tackling blazes on military bases have been unable to access their full pension due to “numerous” blunders by the outsourcing group Capita, it has emerged.
Capita won a £525m contract to run the Ministry of Defence’s fire and rescue service in 2019, renaming it the Defence Fire and Rescue Project (DFRP) after the privatisation.
Continue reading...Defence secretary says third joint UK-US assault on Iran-backed group is to protect lives and ‘preserve freedom of navigation’
The UK has joined the US for a third time in conducting a wave of airstrikes on Iran-linked Houthi targets in Yemen.
The defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said the fresh assaults were “not an escalation”, but instead were designed to “protect innocent lives and preserve freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea amid Houthi attacks on boats.
Continue reading...British warship HMS Diamond targeted in Red Sea but no injuries or serious damage sustained
Grant Shapps said the UK remained “undaunted” after Iran-backed Houthis targeted HMS Diamond in the Red Sea during their latest round of strikes.
The defence secretary’s comments came after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond “deployed its Sea Viper missile system” to destroy the drone deployed by the Yemen-based Houthi group on Saturday. It said there were no injuries to the crew and no damage to the ship.
Continue reading...Woman came forward to Prospect trade union after feeling allegations were not sufficiently dealt with
A Ministry of Defence civil servant has told of being subjected to three separate incidents of sexual assault by male colleagues, after allegations emerged of a “hostile” and “toxic” culture at the department.
The woman came forward to Prospect, the trade union, after feeling that her allegations were not sufficiently investigated and dealt with by the Ministry of Defence.
Continue reading...Nicolás Maduro orders ‘defensive’ manoeuvres as British Navy deploys vessel in territorial dispute
Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has ordered more than 5,600 military personnel to participate in “defensive” exercises, after the UK deployed a warship to waters off the coast of Guyana in a show of support for the former British colony.
Maduro said he was launching an action “of a defensive nature in response to the provocation and threat of the UK against peace and the sovereignty of our country”.
Continue reading...MoD says any information on the potential whereabouts of captives will be shared with Israel
The UK will conduct surveillance flights over Israel and Gaza to search for hostage locations used by Hamas, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
MoD officials said a range of unarmed aircraft would be used for the reconnaissance flights, including Shadow R1s, which are used for intelligence gathering.
Continue reading...Exclusive: women tell study they were punished for breaking rules rather than supported when they reported incidents
Women in the British military who report sexual assaults are being ostracised and punished for breaching minor rules, research shows.
The forces’ “misogynistic and toxic” culture of “laddish” behaviour shapes the way it deals with and understands sexual assaults, according to the study, which is published in the Royal United Services Institution Journal.
Continue reading...Opposition and unions call on Grant Shapps to take action after 60 senior women report widespread abuse
Labour and civil service unions have called on the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to launch an urgent investigation after 60 senior female staff at the Ministry of Defence reported a widespread culture of sexual assault, harassment and abuse by male colleagues.
The opposition party called on Shapps to take action to “root out this behaviour from top to bottom”, while the heads of the FDA and PCS trade unions called for a meeting with the department’s permanent secretary, David Williams.
Continue reading...Complaints compiled by 60 senior civilian women follow reports of rape, assault and bullying across forces
• 60 women at MoD complain of widespread ‘toxic’ behaviour
• ‘The eyes tracking me is awful’: edited extracts
It is impossible not to conclude from the latest revelations that the Ministry of Defence faces a crisis of sexism, an epidemic of harassment – and in some cases the allegations are far worse.
The complaints, compiled by 60 senior civilian women in the department, include allegations so comprehensive it gives the impression its culture of sexism is institutionalised.
Continue reading...Two children were seriously injured in 2012 incident, inquiry into 80 deaths hears
The SAS shot dead two Afghan adults who were sleeping in an incident in August 2012 in which two children were seriously injured, a public inquiry has heard.
The barrister representing victims’ families in a public inquiry into the killing of 80 civilians by the SAS in Afghanistan said the incident amounted to war crimes committed by British soldiers.
Continue reading...Ben Wallace’s successor faces major issues on several fronts including Ukraine and a British military seeking more investment
Grant Shapps’ appointment comes at a time of the largest war in Europe since 1945, with Britain a key strategic partner for Ukraine as it seeks to kick out the Russian invaders. A central part of the job is public and private diplomacy, with the UK particularly keen to maintain its position as a bridge between Kyiv, always seeking new weapons, and an often cautious White House, already increasingly mindful of the looming 2024 election battle, most likely with Donald Trump.
Once Boris Johnson had been ousted from Downing Street, Kyiv looked to Wallace as an increasingly important figure, with the former defence secretary central in efforts to find a pathway for Ukraine to eventually join Nato and in ensuring long-term military support continues. Shapps will want to keep the long-term door to Nato membership open, but he may have give Kyiv candid advice and help it temper its not always realistic lobbying.
Continue reading...Ministry of Defence agree to talks after 50 workers at site in Ayrshire were due to walk out over pay
A two-week strike due to hit a British munitions plant that supplies missiles to Ukraine has been suspended after the Ministry of Defence agreed to talks.
Nearly 50 workers at the site at Beith, in Ayrshire, which assembles the Storm Shadow and Brimstone missiles, had been due to walk out for a fortnight next Monday in a long-running row over pay and bonuses.
Continue reading...UK-backed move could help spread cost of developing fighter jet and drones, but may prove controversial
Saudi Arabia has asked the UK, Japan and Italy to be made a full partner in their joint effort to build the next generation of fighter jets, in a move backed by the British government.
Companies from the UK, Japan and Italy are working together to build a new fighter jet and other systems such as drones under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), also known as Tempest. The programme aims to deliver the first planes by 2035, a tight turnaround.
Continue reading...MoD acknowledged at preliminary hearing that ‘UK special forces’ were present in Afghanistan
A partial admission by the defence secretary that UK special forces were present in Afghanistan risks discrediting a public inquiry investigating allegations of unlawful killings by the SAS, according to a lawyer representing victims’ families.
Richard Hermer KC said Ben Wallace had made only “a semi-concession” in a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, when the minister made a rare acknowledgment that “UK special forces” were present in Afghanistan.
Continue reading...Lawyers for bereaved families allege British soldiers carried out policy of terminating all fighting-age men
Eighty Afghans may have been victim of summary killings by three separate British SAS units operating in the country between 2010 and 2013, lawyers representing the bereaved families have told a public inquiry.
One of the elite soldiers is believed to have “personally killed” 35 Afghans on a single six-month tour of duty as part of an alleged policy to terminate “all fighting-age males” in homes raided, “regardless of the threat they posed”.
Continue reading...Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is said to have told defence secretary that the army cannot take more reductions
The head of the British army could resign, allies say, amid a fierce row over further proposed cuts to land forces in the run-up to a special defence review responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Interviews have already begun to replace Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, who has served only a year as chief of the general staff, and friends of the military leader say he may quit even sooner if the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, imposes further cuts.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Extensive deployments ‘raise serious concerns about transparency’, says research group Action on Armed Violence
SAS and other British special forces have been involved in covert operations in 19 countries in the past dozen years, including in Nigeria, the Philippines and Russia, as well as in Syria, Ukraine and most recently Sudan, a study reveals.
The elite military units operate in secret, without ministers publicly confirming their activities. But a research group, Action on Armed Violence, has compiled a list of their activities since 2011 based on media leaks.
Continue reading...Pope Francis offers help repatriating Ukrainian children from Russia as Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets select leaders in Italy
Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked Pope Francis on Saturday to back Kyiv’s peace plan, and the pope indicated the Vatican would help in the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russians.
The Ukrainian president was in Rome for a one-day whistle-stop visit, also meeting Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, and the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
Continue reading...BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce among those funded, with aim of producing new aircraft by 2035
The Ministry of Defence has awarded £650m to manufacturers working on its Tempest fighter jet, in the latest sign that the UK is pushing forward with the aim of producing the aircraft by 2035.
The companies who will receive the money are led by manufacturer BAE Systems, jet engine maker Rolls-Royce, and the UK arms of Italy’s Leonardo and European missile-maker MBDA.
Continue reading...Contradictions over missions in Syria and Iraq deepens concern over Britain’s ‘perfect’ precision war
It sounded like accountability. Pressed about the UK’s implausibly spotless record in its bombing campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the British government admitted in May 2018 that its military had killed one civilian in eastern Syria two months earlier.
But the strike the then defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, described to parliament was not logged in the records of civilian casualties kept by its allies in the international coalition flying bombers and drones over Syria and Iraq.
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