Armed Forces: Medals

House of Lords written question – answered at on 5 November 2012.

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Photo of Lord West of Spithead Lord West of Spithead Labour

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will reconsider the decision to forbid the acceptance of the Ushakov medal by survivors of the Arctic Convoys.

Photo of Baroness Warsi Baroness Warsi Senior Minister of State (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) (Jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government), Senior Minister of State (Department for Communities and Local Government) (Faith and Communities) (also in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office)

In May and July of this year the Russian embassy asked for permission for the Ushakov Medal to be accepted by Arctic Convoy veterans. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) considered the request on a case by case basis under the current British rules on the acceptance of foreign awards but permission for the medal to be accepted could not be given. The information supplied by the Russian embassy did not show that the individuals named by the Russian embassy had given specific service to Russia within the past five years, as required by the current rules. The FCO did inform the Russian embassy that should they wish to nominate recipients who had given recent service to Russia those cases could be reconsidered.

The noble Lord may wish to note that Sir John Holmes, in his Military Medals Review published on 17 July 2012, made a number of recommendations, including that there should be a fresh look at the policy on the acceptance of medals from another country. The Government have invited Sir John to undertake further work to implement his recommendations. This has begun, with an initial focus on looking at the case for medals for a number of past campaigns, including the Arctic Convoys.

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