THIRTEEN years service, five operational tours, four medals – and a fifth offered alongside news from the Home Office that he has to leave the UK.
Bale and Kim Baleiwai came to the charity Veterans Aid in despair – and help to bring their plight to public attention.
The Sunday Telegraph, BBC Radio 4 and Channel 4 News took up their case.
They are a close, happy family who have made personal sacrifices during Bale’s distinguished Army career.
And all because a misdemeanour in the Army that was dealt with summarily in a 10-minute meeting with his CO has translated into a criminal record.
This migration of transgression applies only to Foreign and Commonwealth service personnel.
Discriminatory? Undoubtedly.
We live in an odd world when a drunken Army veteran who happens to be an MP starts a punch-up in the Commons bar and doesn’t even lose his seat, while a former Fijian Lance Corporal provoked into a short scuffle faces separation from his wife and children with only days to prepare.
The so-called ‘military covenant’ has a way to go in terms of meaningful provision for those it purports to protect.
For more see:
Channel 4 – Border Agency U-turn on deportation of F&C soldiers
Barred from Britain: Commonwealth soldiers treated as slaves, says charity – The Times
Foreign soldiers who risked lived for Britain win battle to stay – Telegraph
