Veterans who suffered mistreatment in the armed forces under the “gay ban” will receive compensation “soon into the new year”, Defence Secretary John Healey said, as he apologised for the pain and injustice caused.
As part of a £75 million scheme being launched by the Government on Friday, veterans will receive up to £70,000 each and can apply to have their ranks reinstated.
Under the ban, which lasted until the year 2000, members of the armed forces who were – or were thought to be – gay or transgender were subjected to brutal interrogation and dismissal.
Some veterans have suffered lifelong consequences, being left without access to their military pensions, shunned by family and friends, and facing diminished career prospects.
Mr Healey told the Commons the historic wrongs faced by LGBT+ service personnel is a “moral stain on our nation”, as veterans watched tearfully from the public gallery on Thursday.
I want to apologise without reservation for the pain and the injustice caused during this dark chapter of our armed forces history
“I am very conscious that for many of these veterans, time is ticking, and I am determined that this is not a scheme that will take long to make its proper decisions.
“And so, soon into the new year, LGBT veterans that are confirmed as eligible should expect payment.
“This is a Government that is delivering for defence. This is a Government that is delivering for LGBT veterans. And on behalf of the Government, I want to apologise without reservation for the pain and the injustice caused during this dark chapter of our armed forces history.”
Veterans who were dismissed or discharged because of their sexual orientation or gender identity are to receive £50,000.
Personnel who were “negatively affected” by the ban during their time in the service between 1967 and 2000 will be given up to another £20,000, the ministry said.
The payments will be exempt from income tax and means-tested benefits.
Veterans who lost their rank as a result can apply to have it restored and discharge reason amended if they wish, ministers have said.
During the debate, Labour MP Clive Efford (Eltham and Chislehurst) described those who arrested LGBT veterans as “sadistic animals”, and said a constituent of his who was in the Royal Air Force was “beaten, he was kicked, he was spat at”.
Meanwhile, Labour MP Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) called for those in the secret service who faced discrimination to be included in the compensation scheme.
Craig Jones, whose charity Fighting with Pride was among those leading calls for compensation, described the debate as “incredibly moving” and a “watershed moment”.
He told the PA news agency: “It was incredible for the veterans to see what amazing support there is today for their service and what incredible recognition there is of the fact that they are no longer disgraced people, they are actually recognised as the heroes they are for their service.”
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge welcomed the two-pronged approach of the scheme and pressed the Government to compensate the veterans “as soon as possible”.
The previous Tory government accepted in full the recommendations of Lord Etherton’s report into the ban in December 2023, which included a proposal for a financial awards scheme capped at £50 million.
The Ministry of Defence said it had increased the amount after “extensive engagement with LGBT veterans”, who previously described the £50 million figure as “inadequate and unacceptably low”.
Campaigners who were hoping for a greater increase to the initial figure have expressed disappointment with the final sum.
Mr Jones said the amount will give “some degree of comfort” to those worst affected but is “not what we hoped for”.
He told the PA news agency: “To the Ministry of Defence’s credit, they have worked very hard to get this scheme out quickly, which is great – it’s just that the final amount will inevitably disappoint a lot of people.
“The money that’s being made available will give some degree of comfort to those most affected but we will have to look again in the future because this is a shorter-term fix and these veterans in five or 10 years’ time will still not have pensions to rely on.”
The former Royal Navy officer added: “In my years of serving, I watched many of my colleagues marched away by the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police, and I watched that happen with great sadness.
“I was lucky not to get caught, but it’s been a privilege and an honour to go back, as we do in the armed forces, and find those who have not fared so well and to support them – not to a perfect resolution but to a better resolution.”
Speaking before the announcement, Tremaine Cornish, an Army Commando who earned a prestigious green beret, said he was “close to being homeless again” after he was forced to leave the service in the 1970s.
Cameron Thomas, Liberal Democrat MP for Tewkesbury, who was a member of the RAF, recalled meeting with a group of veterans in his constituency during the general election campaign.
He said before he was introduced to the group, one person pulled him aside and whispered, “don’t worry about the he/she. We just ignore it”, which he later learned was in reference to a transgender veteran.
He said: “I spent a few minutes speaking with her, she was seated clearly separately from the rest of the main group, and I could not help but to feel moved by her courage and dignity as she spoke matter of factly as to her circumstances, but with an affection and an understanding for those fellow veterans who even now disowned her.
“She took responsibility for the way she was now ostracised, which I admire but reject.”
Alex Baker, Labour MP for Aldershot, raised the “sister ban of this policy” – ban on people with HIV serving in the military which was not lifted until 2022.
She said: “Even now, there are loopholes that are still being exploited. So regressive were the rules that people were banned from joining the armed forces, even if they were HIV negative but taking the HIV prevention drug PrEP.
“Regrettably, but not surprisingly, opportunities to revise these rules were missed in 2008, 2016 and yet again in 2019 even as the British government accepted the ‘can’t pass it on’ science about people living with HIV on treatment in the years that followed, no change was forthcoming.
“If they were already in service, the serving personnel were labelled medically not deployable.”
