BORIS Johnson has refused to comment on whether the Government plans to cut the Veterans’ Office budget.
The Prime Minister was asked by the SNP’s Dave Doogan to assure MPs that the department will not see a reduction in its funding under his watch, but refused to confirm this would be the case.
It came after reports on Wednesday suggested the Treasury has informed the Office for Veterans’ Affairs that it plans to reduce its budget by 40% under cost-cutting plans.
The Times said the department’s annual budget would be reduced from £5 million to £3 million a year under the proposals.
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Raising the matter in the Commons, Doogan asked: “Will the Prime Minister follow the SNP’s lead and assure the House today that he will not allow this cut to UK funding for veterans?”
Johnson replied: “Not only was this the first Government to create a veterans’ minister specifically with the charge of looking after veterans, not only have we invested in them, but we have also taken steps to protect our armed forces veterans from vexatious litigation pursued by lefty lawyers – the kind sitting not a million miles from me today – who pursue them long after they have served Queen and country and where no new evidence has been provided.
“We tried to protect them, we have protected them, and that party voted against it.”
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