Our Manifesto for the 2024 General Election

Our 11 top priorities

In 2023, we launched some policy priorities for veterans, each one rooted in rigorous research into the challenges veterans are facing. We pushed for the main UK political parties to adopt these policies ahead of the General Election.

We focused on those which aim to reduce costs and the demand on public services in the long-term, specifically the NHS. But these policies should simultaneously improve the standard of living, financial independence and wellbeing of veterans

1. Commission an independent review of the medical discharge process.
2. Disregard War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme as income from benefits and pensions.
3. End the practice of amputees having to undergo multiple Work Capability and Personal Independence Payments Reassessments.
4. Add chronic pain as a condition within the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme tariffs.
5. Establish a compensation scheme for nuclear test veterans and their families.
6. Reinstate long-term funding for the Veterans' Hearing Loss Fund.
7. Abolish application fees for indefinite leave to remain for all non-UK citizens who have served in the UK Armed Forces for four years and their dependent family members.
8. Resettle all eligible family members of Afghan Locally Employed Civilians who have not arrived in the UK by the end of 2024.
9. Establish a financial compensation scheme for LGBT+ veterans who were wrongfully discharged prior to the lifting of the pre-2000 ban on homosexuality in the Armed Forces.
10. Commit to maintain the Office for Veteran Affairs headed by the cabinet-attending minister.
11. Extend the scope of the Armed Forces Covenant in law.

What we've been doing

• In 2023, we held receptions and panel events at the Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour Party Conferences to launch our manifesto platform.
• 2023 and 2024 saw us meet with MPs, peers and party officials from all major political parties, to build support and campaign for the inclusion of these asks in their own General Election manifestos.
• In September 2024, we will host a panel event at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, where topics up for discussion include how to improve the medical discharge process and veterans' financial wellbeing.

Download the full manifesto

For more information on our campaigns, please contact our Senior Public Affairs and Policy Manager, Ted Arnold, at ted.arnold@helpforheroes.org.uk