An attitude that adds insult to injury

A compensation row exposes the Government’s shoddy treatment of injured soldiers, says robert fox

Army chiefs have asked the Government to think again about the derisory £152,000 awarded to Lance Corporal Ben Parkinson, 23, whose case has made headlines after he sustained more than 30 injuries when he was blown up by a landmine in Afghanistan.

Medics treating him say Parkinson is the worst-injured soldier to have survived on a battlefield in the history of British warfare. They make the point that three years ago he wouldn't have survived the huge blast, which has led to him losing both legs and suffering some brain damage.

The commanders are outraged that only three of his injuries have been considered for compensation, and the rest ruled out. "Any one of 14 of his wounds was life threatening," says a senior commander, who is determined to fight for Parkinson and get more money from the government to provide

Ben Parkinson was awarded just £152,000 after suffering 14
life-threatening wounds and brain damage

him with a house and the specialist care and therapy he will now need.

"We pushed this case to the limit, and we just came up against a brick wall," said the commander - though he revealed that the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Derek Twigg, agrees that the compensation is inadequate and "will look into it".

The problem, according to senior soldiers, is the Services Compensation Act of 2005 which sets a tariff of compensation for injuries, and by all accounts very much on the low side. "The Act didn't envisage the range and number of injuries that soldiers now sustain and survive because of recent medical advances," said one officer. "Obviously it's got to be looked at again."

But civil servants at the MoD, led by Bill Jeffrey, the Permanent Under-Secretary, are reluctant to discuss the treatment of injured personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan at all. Visitors to the wounded at the military facility at Selly Oak, Birmingham have been told not to talk to the media. Even two generals' wives, deeply involved in charity work, have