Impact of combat stress on children should be recognised, urges MP

Speaking in the House of Commons, MP Claire Perry asked defence minister Andrew Robathan to look at the "huge impact" combat stress has on families.

She said: "May I ask the minister to continue to recognise the wider impact of combat stress, particularly on army families? Combat stress has a huge impact on the wives, children and husbands of serving armed forces members."

She added that she had recently been to the launch of a new charity in Tidworth, dedicated to supporting the children of men and women killed while serving with the British armed forces.

Scotty's Little Soldiers has been created by Nichola Scott after her husband Corporal Lee Scott was killed in Afghanistan last year.

The charity will pay for children to receive letters, cards, gifts, tickets for events and fees for local sports or activities. In the long term, it aims to buy a holiday home so that families can take short breaks.

Perry also asked the defence minister to confirm that other measures, such as the educational premium for army children and scholarships for children of the fallen, to survive the spending review, calling them "critical to bolstering the military covenant".

Robathan said: "We are looking at the military covenant and how we may enhance the relationship between the government and people of this country and the armed forces and the work they do. We are looking very closely at some of the issues mentioned. One or two of them are covered in the coalition agreement for government document and I think it highly unlikely that any minister would dare renege on that programme for government."