Labour MP Euan Stainbank asked whether the Ministry of Defence had assessed the merits of criminalising such behaviour.
Defence minister Louise Sandher-Jones said the department had made no such assessment and stated that existing legislation already covers cases involving deception or personal gain.
Sandher-Jones noted that “the Ministry of Defence has made no assessment of introducing new offences for impersonating Armed Forces personnel or Veterans and has no current plans to consider criminalising such impersonation, given that existing measures already apply in certain circumstances.”
She added that while veterans are expected to follow guidance on wearing medals, “it is not a criminal offence for Veterans, or the public, to wear medals to which they are not entitled unless, by doing so, an individual is seeking to make personal gain or defraud others.”
Key offences already apply, according to her response. The Fraud Act 2006 and equivalent Scottish provisions make it illegal to fraudulently wear uniforms or medals “if for financial gain or to cause disadvantage to others.” The Uniforms Act 1894 also prohibits wearing Armed Forces uniforms or items resembling them without permission, though it allows use for theatrical purposes.
Sandher-Jones said that “whenever it is suspected that an individual might be committing an offence, the matter should be reported to the civilian police.”
I assume that this is a knee jerk after that insecure, as that is what lies behind it, idiot pretended to be a Rear Admiral at that Remembrance Day ceremony.
Walter Mitty’s exist and have for decades, ARRSE pedia have a hilarious page on blokes dedicated to “outing Walts.”
It’s probably also a reaction to Americanisation. The US has laws against “stolen valor”
Hi Dern.
Good to see you back posting, assumed you’d been away with work.
Is that so, I didn’t know.
tbf the comments section has gone downhill here. Nuanced discussion is gone, just Reform Fascists foaming at the mouth on every article about how crap everything is. Not much cause to post.
Pity that law doesn’t apply to their movies?
Well apart from the fact that I occasionally claim to have been on the balcony, along with the other 60000, despite being in Germany at the time, I believe that those who appear at Remembrance Parades, deliberately portraying themselves as individuals, of ranks they never obtained, wearing medals they are not entitled to wear should be dealt with a minimum sentence of 4 years imprisonment.
I must admit I have quite a rack, but having served for 30 years, it comes with the territory.