Escort for Heroes, sign the No.10 petition
 

You may have seen the press coverage of hearses stuck in traffic, carrying the bodies of those KIA, and noticed how badly this compared with the reception in Canada and other NATO countries for similar casualties.

Sign the No 10 petition, and perhaps people will take notice.

Link here

The wording of the petition is:

"The bodies of British servicemen and women killed overseas are flown to RAF Lyneham.

The hearses carrying the bodies receive no special escort once they leave the county of Wiltshire, normally bound for the mortuary at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.


It is an insult to these brave people and their families that their hearses should travel un-escorted on their journey through the country that these men and women served and died for.


The signatories to this petition request that the Ministry of Defence, in co-ordination with local Chief Constables, arrange for a formal escort for the bodies of all those Servicemen and women, unless the next-of-kin request otherwise."

Signed...........

Good idea. Signed.

Thanks to media coverage (namely in the Mail on Sunday), Thames Valley Police have had a re-think, and are now once again providing escorts once the hearses cross the county line into Oxon.
For the time being they're using marked police cars, as all their motorbikes are out of action. Once new fleet of bikes is delivered in June, they'll be back to bikes.
No harm signing the petition, but it looks like the objective has been achieved - provided TVPolice stick to their word...
:D

Signed it as soon as I read it in the Telegraph today.

Scribbler - I set this up before the TVP re-think, but the No.10 petition process moves at the speed of Mr Browns's tax u-turns...., it took about ten days from my submission to approval, which came through earlier today.

All the same, we wouldn't want TVP, or any other Force, to lose interest. Let's face it, UK troops will be in Afghanistan for at least the next five years.

Done
 

It might make this government think about everything else as well?

Correct level of compensation for returning injured and appropriate rehab facilities as well being 2 issues.....

One can but hope?

SA

Signed! Good on yeah whoever set it up!

Happy to sign

When did it change from Brize?






Signed.

Duly Signed

FF... April last year

Signed
Well done instigator

I have signed and have posted links on some of the "civilian" forums I belong to, however the response was not as I'd hoped.

The majority of the responses I've received so far show just how mis-informed the great British public are about the military.

Of 9 comments, 6 were saying it isn't the responsibility of the civilian police, and why can't the home unit provide its own escorts. I have naturally posted suitable replies, but thought I'd share this experience with my fellow pruners.

It is indeed a sad assessment of British society that the "It's not my responsibility" attitude seems to have ingrained itself so completely.

I'm glad I don't live in it any longer.

Moose:

How does one sign as a non resident/foreigner?







Apologies if it's a bone question.

Signed. If the Canadians can do it there is no excuse.

Signed.

Duncs

Signed. Living in the TVP area - and having had the joy of negotiating the Oxford ring road these past 2 years - I was utterly dismayed at the stance of TVP.

It was even more galling having served with the Canadians on the fleet responsible for the repatriations into Trenton. I've driven the 401 many times and it's no mean feat to close it off I'm sure. I'm glad to see that they still know how to do things properly (as do the good people of Wooton Bassett I have to say).

Let's hope that TVP keep their promise; I assume the leader of the opposition is keeping a watchful eye on things as it passes through his AOR.

Signed, Good on whoever got this one started

Signed, shame it was ever needed......

SRT

Select "expatriate" and enter your forrin address.

Signed
s37