Mercer declares 'real progress' in Veteran ID cards rollout… and says he's confident of saving his eyebrows - Julian Perreira 28th June 2023 at 4:25pm
Veterans' Minister Johnny Mercer has declared there is "real progress" over the rollout of Veterans ID cards and – slightly tongue-in-cheek – said he was confident he won't have to shave his eyebrows in a wager over their delivery. The MP previously appeared to put his eyebrows on the line with military banter site Fill Your Boots over the delivery of the cards this year in a well-known military game called 'Eyebrows' whereby someone pledges to have them shaved off if they don't follow through on what they've said, or it turns out to be a lie. However, Mr Mercer later rowed back on this, telling Forces News: "This is something that has been blown way out of proportion, that I thought was a private conversation with someone about Veteran ID cards. "The thing is, right, Veteran ID cards will start printing this year, that is all people need to know." The 'Eyebrows' call was made after Mr Mercer tweeted: "ID cards coming this year, as promised." And now he says delivering the second phase of the rollout is well under way with the arrival of a new printing machine for the cards. Mr Mercer posted a photo of the delivery on Twitter, captioned: "Exciting delivery this week; inside this box is the machine that will be printing thousands of Veteran ID cards this year. Real progress. Eyebrows confident." In 2019, ministers pledged to provide every veteran with an ID card to enable them quicker access to health, housing, and charity services and said the cards would be rolled out in two different phases. Phase one would see the Veterans ID cards given to all service leavers as part of the discharge process from 18 February 2019 and retrospectively to those who left on or after 17 December 2018. Phase two will extend the scheme to the wider veteran community but no details on how to apply have been announced yet. The Government said in February last year that phase one was complete. To date, only those who left on or after 17 December 2018 have been eligible to receive a card. The estimated 1.8 million former members of the Armed Forces who served prior to this date are still waiting. By the end of April 2023, a total of 63,501 cards had been issued. Figures released in response to written questions show that the highest number of cards – 3,942 – were given out in Wiltshire, while the smallest number – only one – was handed out in the City of London. via Blogger https://ift.tt/rYm8WVd June 29, 2023 at 04:39PM |
AuthorJohn Currin served 15 years in the Royal New Zealand Navy and has retained an interest in naval, marine, military and happenings around the world. Archives
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