British soldiers paid less than us? Quite right – our job’s more dangerous, says traffic warden Sunday, Jun 8 2008

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A traffic warden today justified the fact that he earns more than a soldier – by claiming his job is more dangerous. He spoke out a day after Army chief General Sir Richard Dannatt expressed his disgust that traffic wardens have better salaries than soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan General Dannatt’s comments embarrassed Prime Minister Gordon Brown into promising that the Government would reward servicemen and women’s ‘great contribution’. But traffic warden Alan Gooding, 44, said Sir Richard’s comments were ‘a load of rubbish’ and claimed it was right that he earned more because people attack him and spit at him.

Mr Gooding, who served in the Army in Northern Ireland,said: ‘Without a shadow of a doubt, being a traffic warden is more dangerous. ‘Over the last 10 years I have been driven at, head-butted, spat at, punched and shoved.’ He told the Guardian: ‘In the Army you always have back-up and support but with this you are out on the street for nine hours on your own. You don’t know who is going to turn up to find you ticketing their car.’ General Dannatt said yesterday the Government must plough more money into improving pay and conditions if the armed forces are to be in a fit state to win conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. While a young infantry private earns earns a basic wage of £16,227, with a £3,000 bonus for serving overseas, a traffic warden earns more than £20,000 with overtime. MoD insiders played down any rift between the Chief of the General Staff and ministers over pay, insisting there was agreement on the need for improvement. But his latest outburst will bolster growing concerns over the Government’s treatment of the forces.

Last month, a leaked Army briefing paper warned that growing numbers of soldiers were close to the Government’s definition of poverty. Many were leaving because they were struggling to raise families on their Army salaries. Some young privates were having to borrow money to feed themselves at the end of the month. Former officer James Moulton, 32, who served in Iraq with the Irish Guards, said: ‘The men don’t do it for the money or the acclaim and they don’t gripe about the work. But they are making pretty big sacrifices, not just the risk of injury or death, but also in terms of impact on their family life.’

General Dannatt said he believed substantial pay rises were needed to maintain morale and to stop good- quality personnel from quitting. ‘You look to see how much a traffic warden is paid and compare that against what a private soldier gets paid,’ he said. ‘I think you will find that an individual serviceman gets paid quite a lot less.’ The national average salary for a traffic warden including overtime is £20,526, according to the Office for National Statistics. A newly-trained private soldier facing intense combat in Afghanistan earns a salary of £16,227, while extra allowances take his pay to just below the average for a traffic warden. The MoD claims other benefits and military perks should be taken into account. Almost 300 members of the armed forces have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sir Richard said: ‘I’d like to see service pay go up above inflation for the next couple of years and keep going up if this level of commitment continues.

‘Servicemen go on operations knowing they are putting their lives on the line. It is very hard to put a price on that.’ He told The Sun newspaper: ‘Given the insecurity in the world today and what the armed forces are being asked to do in it, then a slightly increased share of the national wealth going to defence would be appropriate. I regard what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere as non discretionary – we have got to do those things. ‘To make sure that we have armed services populated by motivated and well-trained people, we have got to look after their individual needs well enough. ‘That means things like housing, pay, medical provision and general welfare facilities have got to be good. That’s where I would like to see additional resources spent. To an extent that is happening – but I would like to see it happening faster.’

The Prime Minister responded by praising the ‘huge contribution’ the forces make to Britain’s security. ‘We will do everything in our power in the years to come to recognise the great individual contribution that is made by all the members of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force,’ he added. Britain’s top military chiefs have traditionally fought battles with politicians behind closed doors and avoided explicit criticism of Government policy. But General Dannatt has spoken out on controversial issues, which has made him popular with his troops but led to strained relations with senior ministers. The MoD pointed out that soldiers’ pay has recently risen above inflation – including a 9 per cent boost last year for the most junior ranks. The Royal British Legion described Sir Richard as a ‘brave soldier’. Tory defence spokesman Liam Fox said: ‘It is unprecedented for defence chiefs to speak out in this way. These comments come after over a decade of Labour neglect. ‘It shows how serious the situation has become and how badly the Military Covenant (between the nation and its forces) has been broken.’

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Our troops aren’t fit for jobs in civvy street, says the man who’s meant to be fighting their corner Sunday, Jun 8 2008

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Defence Secretary Des Browne faced fresh anger over soldiers’ pay last night after suggesting their low wages are justified because many would fail to get better-paid jobs outside the Army. Mr Browne said young recruits were not paid as much as ‘uniformed organisations in civilian street’ because they lacked the qualifications needed for other jobs. In a speech to the Royal British Legion’s Scottish annual conference last June, Mr Browne also claimed military service made soldiers ‘more employable’. Although his comments went unnoticed at the time, they emerged yesterday as the conference’s minutes were presented to this year’s meeting in Perth. The Royal British Legion attacked the remarks as ‘deeply offensive’, claiming they portrayed troops as ‘too dim’ to work as traffic wardens, police or firemen. It comes just a day after General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army, complained that soldiers who risk death or injury on the front line are paid less than traffic wardens back home. A young infantry soldier deployed to Afghanistan will earn £16,227, with operational allowances taking his pay to just over £20,000. That is less than the average £20,526 salary for traffic wardens.

Mr Browne told hundreds of delegates from Legion branches: ‘Why don’t we pay servicemen and women in a comparative rate to uniformed organisations in civilian street? ‘I have to say the honest answer to that, for a number of young people, particularly those who join the Army, before they join the Army, they would not have been accepted by any of these organisations.

‘But, because of the formative experiences the services have been for you, as a result of what you have gone through, you can bet your bottom dollar that when you come out of the Forces, you will be acceptable.’ A spokesman for the Royal British Legion Scotland said: ‘Mr Browne’s comments are deeply offensive and could hardly be more insulting. ‘We have long believed combat soldiers should not be paid substantially less than an ordinary police constable. These are soldiers, risking their lives every day. At the same time, their wives and families often have to endure appalling housing.’ One serving officer told the Mail: ‘Des Browne isn’t going to make friends with many soldiers this way. ‘I’d be interested to hear him selling that message to our guys sweating it out in Iraq or Afghanistan.’ Dr Liam Fox, the Conservative’s defence spokesman, said: ‘Our Armed Forces are some of the best in the world. It is about time this Government gave them the respect they deserve.’ But a spokesman for Des Browne said: ‘To suggest the Defence Secretary is in any way inferring that those who join the Armed Forces could not do other jobs is nonsense. ‘He was making the point that during their service they learn new skills and become highly trained individuals who, in turn, become extremely employable – that is the opportunity that the military gives them.’

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Gang arrested after attack on Army cadet Tuesday, May 27 2008

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AN ARMY cadet was attacked as he collected sponsorship money.
Gareth Rogers was racially abused and pushed to the floor near the junction of Railway Street and Berkeley Street, Nelson, on Wednesday afternoon last week after collecting money due to him from a sponsored walk. He hit his face on the pavement and sustained facial injuries, which required hospital treatment. He went home afterwards. Three youths of Asian appearance aged 14 to 16 were arrested at the scene and a fourth was arrested the following day. All four have been granted police bail until April 5th pending further inquiries.

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Gang of teenage hoodies kicked former soldier to death for £5 they wanted to spend on booze and drugs Tuesday, May 27 2008

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A former soldier was beaten to death in a drink and drug-fuelled attack by a gang of teenagers who were on bail or serving community punishments for violent robberies. Stephen Green was cycling home from work late at night when he was ambushed in an underpass. The 55-year-old was kicked, stamped on and battered with a large stick by the yobs, who needed cash to buy more alcohol and cannabis. He clung on to life in hospital for nine days before dying from a blood clot in the brain caused by his injuries. His rucksack, which contained just £5.65 in change, was found discarded near the scene of the attack with the money still inside. Nicholas Garland, 18, Shane Liddy, 19, Richard McNamara, 19, and Darryll Bennett, 18, all of Luton, face life sentences after they were convicted of murder. After the verdicts it was revealed Bennett had been on bail for two robberies and a theft at the time of the attack, for which he has now been given a three-year jail term.

In September 2006 he punched a man in the face and took his mobile phone. The following month he stole a 16-yearold’s mobile after threatening him with a knife. In February last year, Bennett hit a youth with an unknown object and stole his phone and £30. Liddy was serving a 12-month community order, during which he had to report to probation officers on a regular basis, for attempted robbery. He was with a friend who put a youth in a headlock in October 2005 but the pair ran off empty handed when they were disturbed. McNamara was on bail while awaiting sentence for robbing a 16-year-old two months before the murder.

He is yet to be sentenced for the offence. Only Garland had no previous convictions. At Luton Crown Court, Judge John Bevan QC told the group: “You all have such a warped outlook on life that you can brutally end the life of a hard-working man who was riding through an underpass at midnight.” Mr Green, a bachelor, was in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps for nine years and was made a corporal. He served in Belize and Cyprus and went on four tours of duty to Norway. He also took part in peacekeeping missions with the UN. After leaving the Army he got a job at a plastics factory in Dunstable and was cycling home to Luton from a night shift early on May 5 last year when he entered the underpass. He was confronted by the teenagers who had been drinking beer and brandy and smoking cannabis. The ringleader Bennett, then 17, stopped him and demanded “What have you got for me?” Mr Green was not given time to hand over any cash before the vicious attack began, however. He died in Luton and Dunstable Hospital on May 14.

Callous killers: Teenage yobs Nicholas Garland, Shane Liddy, Richard McNamara and Darryll Bennett wanted cash to buy booze and drugs

Tests on his cycling helmet later revealed he was subjected to “multiple heavy blows” during a sustained attack. They were caught on May 16 after police learned all the gang except Liddy had been at McNamara’s home shortly after the attack. Police found Mr Green’s blood on his shoes and those of Garland. It later emerged McNamara’s mother overheard the gang talking, with Bennett boasting: “Did you see his face? Did you see the way I was battering him?” McNamara replied: “You were going mad man, I tried to get you off.” Bennett then said: “I know, I was hyper. I was saying, “I’m going to kill him, I’m going to kill him”.” Bennett, McNamara and Garland denied murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to rob. Liddy denied murder, manslaughter and conspiracy to rob. But a jury found all of them guilty of murder last week. They will be sentenced next month. Mr Green’s brother, Richard, yesterday criticised the chronic overcrowding in prisons which has put pressure on courts to bail suspects and issue non-custodial sentences.

“They haven’t got any room at the moment,” he said. Those killed by suspects on bail include father- of-three Garry Newlove, 47, who was kicked to death outside his home in Warrington by drunken thugs when he confronted them for vandalising his wife’s car. His killer, Adam Swellings, 19, had been freed from custody earlier the same day. Last month a court heard how pub landlord Steven Galsworthy, 41, was stabbed to death in Bournemouth by a thug on bail. Freedom of Information requests to Britain’s 51 police forces recently revealed two murders are being committed each week by criminals freed on bail.

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