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Post Tory MP 
if you have a Tory MP please send the following.

The Conservative Party at the General Election promised a review of medals now the MoD are carrying out a internal review of medals but I do not believe that this is the review that was promised to us veterans.
Our elected representatives should make the rules and the Civil Servants should carry them out but it appears to be the other way round.
This MoD internal review will report eventually to the Prime Minister this review in my opinion should be discussed in Parliament for it is only Parliament that can make the laws that we live by otherwise why do we have it?
I ask that the following be taken into account during this review; foreign medals as long as they have been accepted should be allowed to be worn by civilians on all occasions without showing discourtesy to HM the Queen.
I thank you for your time.

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After contacting my MP, this arrived yesterday ::

"Thank you for your email of today’s date regarding the review of medals. I think you make an excellent point, and medals awarded should be able to be worn.

I will pass that on to Liam Fox, and if I get the opportunity, also with the PM

Best wishes

Caroline

Caroline Nokes MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Tel: 0207 219 7218"


_________________
Veni vidi vinci
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Post Medals Review. 
Excellent response Kentsboro.

The person in charge of this review, as far as we can ascertain, is Andrew Robathan MP, Veterans Minister at the MOD.

We are all chasing our Constituency MP's, and others, to try and get as much support in this review as possible.

Keep at it lads and lassies!

Andy, Chairman.

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From Dr Julian Lewis to the Veterans Minister

Andrew Robathan MP
Under Secretary of State
Ministry of Defence
Floor 5, Main Building
Whitehall
London SW1A 2HB
24 January 2011

Dear Andrew,

PJM Medal

I understand from Veterans of the campaign in Malaya and Borneo that our promised Review of outstanding Service medal claims is now underway. I should like to make a few brief observations.

With regard to retrospective arguments about whether certain dangerous campaigns deserve to have a medal or clasp awarded to them, I understand the difficulties of second guessing decisions that were taken much closer to the events concerned. However, the Canal Zone case established a precedent that retrospective awards could be made if there were no records of the issue having been considered but rejected at the time.

Another category that deserves consideration is where a campaign might have been overlooked for political reasons for example, the breakdown of relations with Russia perhaps influencing the strange decision not to recognise the Arctic convoys except, bizarrely, by the award of the Atlantic Star in some cases. I hope that a generous interpretation can be made where there is reason to think that campaigns were either overlooked or disregarded for some extraneous reasons of that sort.

I am not sympathetic to the view that medals should be awarded to people by dint of their simply having been in the Services. The last Government introduced the Veterans' Badges, and this has been an excellent way of recognising that commitment; but we should not go down the route of awarding medals outside the context of participation in campaigns or individual acts of bravery. (I know there are such worthy awards as Long Service and Good Conduct medals and even Coronation medals but these should really be exceptions rather than the rule.)

This leaves the question of decorations awarded by foreign governments. Here, I understand that, where Service personnel have received a medal or clasp for a particular campaign, it might seem a little arbitrary that some foreign governments would also grant medals for some campaigns whilst others would not. I have just finished writing a book which deals in part with RAF personnel who served in Russia during the Civil War between the White and Red forces. Interestingly, they were allowed to wear their White Russian awards together with their British awards and the same applies to RAF personnel who fought in Oman more recently. Given that the number of foreign governments is limited these days who take the trouble to show appreciation of the risks run by our Forces, I think it would make a large number of Veterans very happy if objections to the wearing of the PJM could now finally be removed.



With best wishes,

Yours ever,

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Hi Paul , I hope you don't mind ,Ive just posted an extract off your letter from Lewis on the CforNDM website , I did say it was posted on fight4 website by you. The paragraph I copied was the third para on about medals and his personal thoughts.

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I posted it also and gave full reference to this website, I started a topic on the subject on the Electric Scotland forum last July to add weight to your collective cause.

Hopefully it will help as that forum is read worldwide.
Number of "hits" to date are 2232.

http://www.electricscotland.org/showthread.php/471-Fight-for-the-Right-to-Wear-the-Pingat-Jasa-Malaysia-

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