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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/mp-hits-out-over-care-of-veterans.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Elfyn Llwyd says veterans are being stitched up by the Government's failure to enshrine the military covenant in law" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/min-mp-hits-out-over-care-of-veterans.jpg" alt="Elfyn Llwyd says veterans are being stitched up by the Government's failure to enshrine the military covenant in law"/></a></p>
<p>Veterans are being &#8220;stitched up&#8221; by the Government&#8217;s failure to enshrine the military covenant in law, a leading MP has said.</p>
<p>Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru&#8217;s Westminster leader, will table a series of amendments to the Armed Forces Bill designed to challenge the Government over its commitment to the covenant.</p>
<p>It comes after Royal British Legion director general Chris Simpkins told MPs that troops found it &#8220;pretty depressing&#8221; that the covenant was not included in the current Bill, despite the promise made by Prime Minister David Cameron on board HMS Ark Royal in June last year.</p>
<p>Mr Llwyd said: &#8220;It is politicians who place these brave troops in harm&#8217;s way. We owe them a duty to ensure their well-being upon their return home. Anything else is a breach of the military covenant.&#8221;</p>
<p>He added he had been excluded from the committee stage of the Bill, saying it &#8220;smacks of a stitch-up &#8211; in the same way as this toothless clause is stitching up veterans&#8221;.</p>
<p>Figures showed last year that there were twice as many veterans in prison than British troops in Afghanistan, he said.</p>
<p>Research by the probation union Napo in 2009 showed at least 6% of those on probation, parole or in jail were former members of the armed services. But other estimates vary and there is no mandatory duty on the police, probation or prison service to identify veterans.</p>
<p>Harry Fletcher, Napo&#8217;s assistant general secretary, said: &#8220;If members of the armed services are good enough to risk their lives and safety for Government then they must be good enough to receive proper assistance, counselling and guidance on their return to civilian life.</p>
<p>&#8220;Successive governments have said they would restore the military covenant which would ensure the welfare needs of former soldiers were paramount. It has not happened.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Armed Forces Bill is an excellent opportunity to introduce measures on a statutory footing to minimise the chances of former armed services personnel ending up in the criminal justice system, with mental health problems or becoming homeless.&#8221;</p>
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