We have just added a new section to the the Constitution page, which is a live document we are continually working on in the backgrtound. This is to ensure we fullfil our pledge to the armed services and the other frontline services of these amazing Islands we all call home.
The British Democratic Alliance recognises the extraordinary courage, discipline, and sacrifice of the men and women of the United Kingdom’s Armed Forces and the wider Uniformed services of these British Isles, who, on a daily basis, put their physical and mental health on the line for the people of these Islands to keep us safe and retrieve us from danger.
The existing Covenant is weak words of theatre that promises and delivers little. These grand words, but what do they mean in practice? Very little in reality, despite the best efforts of those in the military, they simply lack the budgets and the resources to do much. A single half page of A4 with no statutory backing that has no real bite in law leaves 4.5 million veterans, nearly 200,000 serving personnel and about 500,000 family members left high and dry with little but a smile and wave – so much for respect. The obligation mentions voluntary and charity organisations, because the Government has abdicated much of its responsibility in this direction to organisations like Help for Heroes, Rock2Recovery and various other charitable trusts – they do a fantastic job, but what a disgrace that have to pick up the slack for the Government in the first place.
We have put this in to our constitution, and should we be given the opportunity to form a government, or be in a position to put significant pressure on one, we want this made into law so government cannot weasle out of its obligations.
ARTICLE VII-A — ARMED FORCES AND UNIFORMED SERVICES COVENANT
(Constitutional Addendum — Fixed and Inviolable)
Section 1: Purpose and Status
The Armed Forces Covenant and the Civil Protection Covenant are hereby established as binding constitutional guarantees.
These Covenants shall hold constitutional authority and cannot be repealed, reduced, or amended except in accordance with Article IX Section 5.
The Armed Forces and the Civil Protection Services shall be recognised as distinct service categories, each with dedicated rights and protections proportionate to their duties, risks, and burdens.
PART I — THE ARMED FORCES COVENANT (Military Covenant)
(Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Air Force, Coast Guard, Military Intelligence Services)
Section 2: Unique Burden and Consequence
The Armed Forces bear a unique operational burden wherein operational failure or misjudgement may result in catastrophic loss of life, collapse of entire missions, or strategic consequences for the nation.
This distinction shall guide all constitutional protections.
Section 3: Legal Immunity for Lawful Combat Conduct
No member of the Armed Forces shall face civil or criminal liability for actions taken in any operational theatre where:
(a) They acted under lawful orders;
(b) They followed the Rules of Engagement and operational procedure; or
(c) They reasonably believed their life, the lives of their comrades, or the lives of others were at risk.
Retrospective investigations based on later political, legal, or social reinterpretations shall be prohibited.
Repeated investigations into the same event, absent new and compelling physical evidence, shall be unlawful.
Where Official Secrets classifications prevent a fair defence, all proceedings shall be immediately terminated.
Section 4: Family and Welfare Guarantees
The State shall provide, without cost to the service member:
- Free and suitable housing for all Non-Commissioned Officers and their family and all enlisted personnel for the duration of service.
- No local authority or devolved body shall impose any charge, tax, fee, levy, or local duty of any kind upon serving personnel or their families in military provided accommodation.
- Utilities: Service Personnel shall be charged special rates by utility companies at a rate no greater than 40% that of the average domestic rate in the area they are located in, and they may not be charged any standing charges. The 40% cap shall include all per-unit consumption charges, and utility providers shall be prohibited from adding standing charges or administrative fees for these accounts.
- Communications. The Government shall ensure that all military-provided accommodation has free access to high-speed broadband, with minimum service levels defined in secondary legislation and reviewed annually.
- Free and suitable housing for all ranks posted away from their permanent residence.
- All ranks shall receive Free uniforms and all essential equipment required to perform their duties that is suitable, safe and appropriate for the purpose intended.
- Free nursery and childcare places for children of serving personnel who are working parents or wish to be working parents.
- Guaranteed support for dependents during deployment, including mental health services, financial assistance, and relocation support.
- Guaranteed employment protection for spouses who relocate due to service posting.
- Guaranteed free private dental and prescription services for spouses and immediate family members of all service family members.
- Where a family member is killed in service, except by their own hand (exceptions will be made where PTSD can be shown to be the cause), their salary shall be paid, deduction free, to their spouse until their designated retirement age, including all subsequent salary increases, and they shall then receive their full pension entitlement, again, free from any tax burden.
Section 5: Healthcare and Mental Health Entitlements
All serving personnel, veterans, and their immediate families shall be entitled to:
- Free lifetime physical healthcare for all service-related injuries or conditions.
- Priority access to NHS services with statutory maximum wait times.
- Dedicated Military Mental Health Services with guaranteed access within:
- 24 hours for crisis intervention,
- 14 days for initial assessment,
- 28 days for treatment commencement.
- Protection from stigma of mental health injury, including legal recognition of moral injury.
Section 6: Housing, Employment, and Transition Rights
- Every service leaver shall be guaranteed immediate access to housing without waiting lists.
- Veterans shall have priority access to apprenticeships, retraining programmes, and public sector employment.
- Military qualifications shall be automatically recognised as civilian equivalents wherever applicable.
Section 7: Pension and Financial Protections
- Military pensions shall be constitutionally protected and may not be reduced or altered retrospectively.
- All military personnel injured in service who are forced, but those injuries, to retire from the service, shall continue to receive their full salary, free of all deductions, until their legal retirement age, at which time they shall receive their full pension. Their salary shall be index linked will all other military salaries and may not fall behind serving personnel.
- No veteran may be means-tested for compensation relating to service-caused harm.
PART II — THE CIVIL PROTECTION COVENANT
(Police, Fire & Rescue, RNLI, Ambulance & Paramedics, Prison Service, Border Force, Mountain Rescue, Coast Rescue)
Section 8: Distinct Nature of Civil Service Risk
Civil Protection Services operate in environments involving high risk, trauma exposure, violence, and danger, but not the catastrophic strategic burden unique to military operations.
Their Covenant shall reflect this distinction without diminishing the dignity or importance of their service.
Section 9: Legal and Professional Protections
Civil Protection personnel shall be protected from vexatious or politically motivated prosecution for actions undertaken in lawful performance of duty, where they reasonably believed force or intervention was necessary to protect life or prevent serious harm as part of their duties.
Section 10: Welfare, Housing, and Family Rights
All Civil Protection personnel shall be entitled to:
- Priority access to affordable housing in the region where they serve.
- Dedicated trauma support pathways with maximum wait times.
- Mandatory psychological review after critical incidents.
- Enhanced sick pay and injury-on-duty protections.
Section 11: Pensions, Injury Compensation, and Employment Rights
- Pensions and injury compensation schemes for all Civil Protection Services shall be constitutionally protected.
- Paramedics, police, and firefighters injured in the line of duty shall receive automatic compensation without litigation.
- Paramedics, Police, Firefighters, Border force and similar civil protection officers who are so injured in the line of their duties they can no longer continue in their role shall have any mortgage outstanding cleared by the state in addition to any compensation they may otherwise receive.
- Paramedics, Police, Firefighters, Border force and similar civil protection officers who are so injured in the line of their duties they can no longer continue in their role shall remain on the payroll of their service and receive their full salary at time of injury, less statutory tax, pension and national insurance contributions.
- Any attempt to downgrade pensions, increase contributions, or reduce benefits without constitutional amendment shall be unlawful.
- RNLI volunteers who are seriously injured in the line of their duties and prevented from continuing shall be paid a lump sum of £50,000 for each year of service they gave to the RNLI, plus £150,000 if less than 5 years total, this shall be index linked to ensure it is not diminished by inflation. Note: Where the volunteer has an outstanding mortgage, the state will fulfil any outstanding mortgage payment.
PART III — GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 12: Prohibition on Retrospective Weakening
No Government, Parliament, agency, or court may reduce, undermine, or reinterpret any protections granted under this Article except as permitted by Article IX Section 5.
Section 13: Oversight
An Independent Armed & Uniformed Services Commission shall exist to enforce this Article, investigate breaches, and protect serving personnel and veterans.
It shall not be subordinate to Parliament.
Section 14: Binding Force
This Article shall have constitutional force equal to all other Articles and shall supersede any conflicting statute or regulation.
Section 15: Irreducible Standards
The rights and protections within the Armed Forces Covenant constitute a minimum standard. Parliament may expand these rights but shall never diminish or restrict them except through constitutional amendment.
© British Democratic Alliance 2025