Compensation for LGBT veterans who suffered under ‘gay ban’ will come in January

Compensation for LGBT veterans who suffered historical mistreatment in the armed forces will be rolled out in January, a minister has signalled.

Veterans minister Al Carns has vowed to launch a financial redress scheme for those who suffered under the pre-2000 “gay ban” at the start of next year, amid concerns by a veterans charity that a £50 million cap on payments means it will not offer enough.

Survivors of the scandal suffered days of sometimes brutal interrogation when it was discovered they were gay; many were dismissed from the forces, lost out on job opportunities and were shunned by families and friends.

Cap

Forces charity Fighting With Pride has raised concerns about the proposed cap on the compensation scheme, with its campaign director Craig Jones also raising the alarm that a parliamentary debate on the scheme may not take place until after it is rolled out.

In the Commons on Monday, Labour backbencher Chris Ward raised the matter with defence ministers, claiming there was “concern among veterans” about the impact of the cap, which was recommended in an independent review into the scandal.

He added: “Because the report caps compensation at around £50 million, it means the average payment per veteran might be as low as £12,500.

“That’s something the then-prime minister, the leader of the Opposition (Rishi Sunak) told the House was – and I quote – ‘an appalling failure of the state’, and rightly so.”

Mr Sunak issued a formal apology for the historical mistreatment LGBT veterans suffered when the independent review concluded in 2023.

Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven MP Mr Ward had earlier urged the minister to reveal when the scheme would be rolled out.

‘Unacceptable’

Veterans minister Mr Carns replied: “I was serving when the ban was lifted in 2000 by a Labour government.

“The treatment of LGBT veterans was completely and utterly unacceptable. The treatment of LGBT veterans on the whole has been dealt with by the Etherton Review which we will see out at the end of the year, and we’ve met 32 of 49 of the recommendations, and will meet the financial redress scheme by the end of this year with the launch in January next year.”

Fighting With Pride campaign director Mr Jones has said a six-figure sum would look more like restitution for the “people who have lost so much” due to the scandal.

The money would help them out of expensive rented accommodation, give them “sufficient income” in their old age, and even help some with no savings to pay for their funerals.

Mr Jones, a former Royal Navy officer, told the PA news agency: “The payments that they intend for LGBT plus veterans are of a totally different and lower magnitude to Horizon, and tainted blood, and Grenfell.

“There are four schemes that are being monitored by the National Audit Office. We are one of them, but we are by a long way the poor relations, in fact, by a factor of at least 10.

“But the circumstances when compared, particularly to Horizon, are incredibly similar. People lost their careers, their homes, they were vilified in their communities, they served prison sentences, and they’ve lived their lives amidst the ashes of the lives that they had before.”