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| Iraq-Jordan |
| GIFTS FOR BLACK WATCH HEROES? JUST PAY £10 |
| 2004-10-31 |
| FAMILIES of Black Watch troops posted to Iraq are being charged by the MoD for sending morale-boosting gifts to their loved ones. When the Black Watch were on their first tour of duty in Iraq last year, Army bosses covered the cost for relatives to send parcels from home to cheer up our boys. Now the penny-pinching MoD have stopped the service because, astonishingly, they claim we are no longer at war in Iraq. Yesterday, disgusted relatives of Black Watch troops condemned the decision as our boys spent their second day in Iraq's terrorist- infested Triangle of Death. Families are being charged up to £10 a time to send packages from the UK. The blanket decision applies to all British troops sent to Iraq. Jim Buchanan, 57, from Arbroath, Angus, whose two sons are in the Black Watch, said: "The troops have already come under attack - so what's that if it's not a war zone? "Things I send out there like letters, food, cigarettes and photos mean the world to them. "The Government has a cheek to ask us to pay for this when Ministers are enjoying an expenses bill of £78million." Last week the Sunday Mirror revealed how British soldiers are being paid less during the war in Iraq than they get on routine manoeuvres in Europe. |
| Posted by:tipper |