Conference notes:

1. The military covenant states that soldiers have a) the right to have adequate resources to carry out the tasks the politicians demand of them; b) the right to be properly cared for in the event of injury; c) the right to know that, in the event of their death, their families will be looked after properly.
2. Accommodation for military personnel and their families has been described by General Mike Jackson, former chief of the general staff, as ‘frankly shaming’
3. Specialists at King’s College London estimate that around 1 in 4 service personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are suffering from anxiety and depression yet, between January 2003 and October 2006, only 2,123 military personnel received treatment for mental health conditions from the MoD
4. Britain is the only Western country without a dedicated military hospital.

Conference believes:

1. Whether or not we agree with the operations our armed forces partake in, the government has an obligation to provide adequately for the men and women risking their lives in these operations
2. That service personnel deserve specialist treatment from specially trained medical staff
3. That the government is failing to provide adequate housing or medical care for our troops

Conference calls for:

1. The government to uphold the military covenant
2. LDYS to back the proposals made at Liberal Democrat Federal Conference for a cross-party committee to be created to assess whether the military covenant is being upheld
3. The executive to be mandated to campaign on this issue