HC Deb 02 December 1999 vol 340 c287W
Mr. Trend

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will assess the benefits of issuing a campaign medal to service personnel who served in the Suez Canal Zone between 1951 and 1954. [100335]

Mr. Kilfoyle

My hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces, when Under-Secretary of State for Defence, reviewed the matter of a medal for those who served in the Canal Zone between 1951 and 1954 last year. He concluded that he could find no grounds for reopening the case to award a medal for service in the Canal Zone between 1951 and 1954. He saw no new evidence that he believed would enable him to persuade the Committee on the Grant of Honours Decorations and Medals to overturn their policy of non-retrospection, or revoke any of the decisions made at the time or following the various reviews since 1990.