There is considerable interest in this issue on the ARRSE website. Many think "enough is enough" and are fed up of being told by MoD spin doctors and deceitful ministers that all in the garden is rosy, when the Mk 1 eyeball can detect quite clearly it is not.
The public and Parliament will listen to an independent voice, which will provide a counterbalance to cost-cutting spin which sees TA soldiers without the medical care they deserve, the penny-pinching refusal to fit suppressive foam systems and so on. The Parliamentary Armed Forces Bill Committee and the House of Commons Defence Committee are interested in this initiative, as minutes of their meetings indicate. There is also keen media interest (and there has been since earlier this year).
The 10 point plan indicates the direction of the Federation - not a union - which should encourage all in uniform - at least, those who don't have their snouts in the Whitehall trough! MoD cannot prevent this initiative from happening and have admitted as much, and the Bett report of some years back recommended a Federation if there was demand.
Go for it!
