Lift compensation cap for LBGT veterans hounded out of forces, ministers informed

Ministers are under pressure to lift the cap on compensation for victims of the ban on LGBT people serving in the military.

As many as 20,000 armed forces personnel were jailed, dismissed for their sexuality or outed against their will before the rule on service was lifted in 2000. Rishi Sunak finally said sorry in July, in a victory for campaigners and the charity Fighting With Pride – with victims promised compensation.

But the Tory government imposed a cap of £50 million on payouts. Ministers had previously been preparing to make payments to around 2,500 veterans.

But a recent National Audit Office (NAO) said the final number of people coming forward could be as high as 4,000 That would mean an average payment of just £12,500 – a figure Craig Jones of Fighting With Pride said would be unacceptable to veterans.

“Members of this community served prison sentences, they were vilified, shamed, lost their homes, employment, military careers, had their medals stripped from their uniform, they were outed to families and friends, were given criminal records and shunned from veterans society for decades. They have lived in the shadow of this hateful policy for decades,” he said. “That is a figure that would never be accepted by the community whom we serve.”

Padraigin Ni Raghillig , 68 – formerly Pat O’Reilly – joined the RAF in 1976 – but was dismissed in 1986 for being a lesbian. After returning from her first overseas posting in Germany in 1981, she left her physically abusive husband and met another woman serving in the RAF and began her first lesbian relationship.

She was on track for a successful career. By 1983 she was posted to RAF Gibraltar, had an exemplary record and was on track for promotion to Corporal. But she had to hide her sexuality and effectively live a double life – which was difficult on a small station.

“I was coming up to ten years service and I was in a secret relationship with a Wren at the time,” she told the Sunday Mirror. “And somebody grassed us up, for want of another expression. We were separately hauled in – she was hauled in by the Royal Navy Police, I was hauled in by the RAF Police and interrogated and subsequently discharged for being a lesbian.”

She was questioned for seven hours before breaking and admitting her sexuality. Without being offered any support, food or drink during the interrogation, she was formally charged and subjected to a second lengthy session of questioning.

She’d been told in the interrogation it was her partner who had given her up – which was a lie used against both of them to trap them into confessing – something that led to years of guilt.

“No amount of money will ever repair the damage that was done to us,” she said. “I’ve just recently started being in touch with one people that I served with. I never felt I could get in touch with them because I felt ashamed.

“When I was interrogated, all my friends were interrogated. I put them through this, and it was very, very unpleasant.”

She said she’d tried to apologise to one friend and they had suggested she move past it.

“People don’t understand that what happened to us is lifelong,” she said. “It isn’t just ‘that was then, this is now, you should get over it.’ I can’t get over it.”

Breaking down in tears, Ms Ni Raghillig said she had recently learned one of her best friends from her time in the RAF had died two decades ago.

“For me, they died six months ago, because that’s when I found out she’s dead,” she said. “And I can never see her again. So they stole that from me. They stole my friend. Even though it’s 40 years, it’s still there and it’s affected me as a person, it’s affected my relationships and it’s affected my whole life.”

Christopher Voce told the Sunday Mirror his service record in the Navy had been “exemplary”, until 1980, when he says he was sexually assaulted by a more senior officer. The following April, he was interrogated by two plain-clothes officers, who hurled homophobic slurs at him, claiming to have a letter he’d written to another sailor he’d had a “fumble” with previously.

“This went on for hours – it was about four hours,” he said. “They took me back to my room and the other lads were kicked out. They opened my locker and went through everything but I was confident there was nothing there that could implicate me.”

He was told to keep quiet about the probe, but word spread.

“All my friends started to drop off. When my father died there was a chief petty officer that sort of became a father figure. And, he just stopped speaking to me. I was just told to get on with my job, and I found it really weird to have just been accused of something serious – they called it gross misconduct – and they’re letting me walking around doing my job.

“And I always got the feeling whenever I went out I was being followed, I was being watched.”

Eventually he was asked to go on leave, and urged to come out to his Mother during the break. On his return to HMS Nelson, he was arrested and charged with eight counts of gross indecency – most of them linking him to people he didn’t know.

He believes he was given up by a Chaplain in whom he had confided that he was gay.

“I’d been doing my job. I’ve been a leading seaman. I’ve got all these exams. And I was doing really, really well,” he said. “I was so angry when they read out the charges. I would have expected them to say ‘we’re going to strip you of your pension, we’re going to give you dishonourable discharge’ and kick me out.

“They didn’t do any of those things. They just discharged me and sent me to a training centre in Colchester, which – they say it’s not a prison, but I can assure you it’s a military prison.”

He was sentenced to 60 days. On one occasion, he recalls being stopped by a senior officer before going into a room to watch a training video.

Mr Voce said: “It was really poignant, because he said ‘people like you shouldn’t be in here.”

He believes the £50 million cap on compensation is too low.

He said: “I just think that’s a lot of money, but it is just not enough. Because there are hundreds of people who have suffered just as much as me. I know we’ve all got stories to tell. So some have worse experiences than myself, mental health issues, health issues, you know, unable to settle into relationships – who are very sad and have become very bitter.”

Claire Ashton , a trans woman who served as gunner in the Royal Artillery, said she was bullied as early as 1969, when she was still in basic training.

“It’s hard to explain – but there’s certain people who can sense that somebody is different. They pick you out,” she said. “I just felt completely different to everybody else. If you’re not going out every night and getting hammered and going to strip joints, you were always on the periphery. It was like being a square peg in a round hole.”

She felt uncomfortable changing in front of other soldiers, and sleeping in close quarters to dozens of others in tight dorm blocks.

After being deployed to Northern Ireland in the 1970s, she said she almost looked forward to policing a riot, because it got her into clear space.

“Once you’ve got your uniform on, you’re all the same,” she explained.

After a planned training course in England was replaced by one in Germany, which involved sleeping in rows of bunks again, she suffered a breakdown and lashed out at someone, and was placed in hospital.

She said: “I think they realised I wasn’t doing it intentionally, it had just got to the boiling point. But they made their mind up, I think, that I was gay.”

Staff questioned her about her personal life, whether she had girlfriends and whether she got on with her colleagues.

She said: “Every time they asked a question I had to run it through, to see what was behind the question. To see what the right answer should be,” she said.

Ms Ashton was eventually discharged on unspecified medical grounds in 1972. She’s 73 now, but was still emotional and wept as she spoke about her experience.

“The wrong answer could get you thrown in jail or thrown out with a dishonourable discharge,” she said. “And that would have been…I couldn’t have gone home. My father was in the RAF during the war. He got a distinguished flying cross for flying bombers over Germany. I couldn’t have gone home with a dishonourable discharge.”

“I’m not bothered for myself,” she said. “But I’ve got people I’ve met who were in the RAF for over 20 years, about to get their pension, and then they get kicked out. And they got nothing, bus fare home. Those people, surely should be decently compensated for the treatment they received. There were people thrown in military prison.

“I’ve met them, and there were so many broken people. I consider myself very lucky to have managed to steer my way through life to where I am now, but others who deserve this compensation – and if you add up all the numbers £50million doesn’t cover it.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “This new government will renew the nation’s contract with those who serve and have served.

“The treatment of LGBT serving personnel between 1967 and 2000 was wholly unacceptable and does not reflect today’s Armed Forces

“Over half of the recommendations of the LGBT veterans review have now been implemented. These include working to construct a LGBT community memorial, apology letters from Service Chiefs and replacement berets for those who were discharged. We are working at pace to deliver those that remain and more information will be provided soon on restorative measures.”