Hey Jackonicko - why not run a story:
"Servicemen's debts likely to rise as Blair talks of the debt we all owe"
As Tony Blair referred to the debt we all owe British servicemen for their work in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, elsewhere modest allowances for overnight duty stops were in the process of being cut. The rates, paid to servicemen who require overnight accommodation away from home base, such as RAF aircrews, are being replaced by a bureacratic system of collecting and reclaiming receipts. This is in stark contrast to the serviceman's boss, the Defence Secretary, who as a Member of Parliament receives £87 [for example] with no need to account for actual expenditure. An unidentified RAF officer said "it's ridiculous - I've spent half my week away counting up Euros, Zlotys, Dollars and Dinar, all handed back to me by the crew. I've even had to give them all receipts so they can account for the money given back". A RAF spokesman said "This new accounting system works perfectly well and, with staff adjustments, only costs £32,000 more a year". "Pound for pound it's second to none of any other bad idea we've ever had" he added.
Maybe in expensive places we could have a cost of living allowance - we could call it...Local Overseas Allowance or something...
Last edited by dallas; 1st Feb 2006 at 18:12.