Hilary Meredith is an English solicitor, professor and lobbyist known for her work and advocacy for UK armed forces service personnel and their families. [1] [2] In 1987, Meredith came to notice for bringing the first ever case against the Ministry of Defence, where she represented the widow of a soldier who had been killed on manoeuvres in Canada. [3]
She started Hilary Meredith Solicitors[ where? ], a legal firm in 2003, specializing in campaigning for the armed forces. [4] Meredith has been known for a series of cases concerning the MoD’s duty of care. She has been involved in Parliamentary Defence Select Sub-Committee Inquiries providing evidence regarding military training exercises. [5] [6]
From 2016, she was appointed senior lecturer of Law and Veterans Affairs at Chester University, serving on the board of the University’s Steering Committee for the Westminster Centre for Veterans Wellbeing and Care. [7] In 2017, she also became a Visiting Professor at the University of Chester. [8] [9]
Meredith's work has included:
The Ministry of Defence is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
Counter-recruitment refers to activity opposing military recruitment, in some or all of its forms. Among the methods used are research, consciousness-raising, political advocacy and direct action. Most such activity is a response to recruitment by state armed forces, but may also target intelligence agencies, private military companies, and non-state armed groups.
Military recruitment refers to the activity of attracting people to, and selecting them for, military training and employment.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the ceremonial commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the country. The Ministry of Defence provides policy framework and resources to the armed forces to discharge their responsibility in the context of the country's defence. The Indian Armed Forces and Indian Coast Guard under the Ministry of Defence are primarily responsible for ensuring the territorial integrity of India.
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Commander-in-Chief of the forces and directs the activity of the ministry. The Minister of Defence exercises day-to-day administrative and operational authority over the forces. The General Staff of the Armed Forces executes the instructions and orders of the president and the defence minister.
Provosts are military police (MP) whose duties are policing solely within the armed forces of a country, as opposed to gendarmerie duties in the civilian population. However, many countries use their gendarmerie for provost duties.
The Point class is a class of six roll-on/roll-off sealift ships originally procured under a Private Finance Initiative to be available for use as naval auxiliaries to the British armed forces. Two of the ships have now been released from the contract, leaving four available for service with the military.
The Military Covenant or Armed Forces Covenant is a term introduced in 2000 into British public life to refer to the mutual obligations between the United Kingdom and the British Armed Forces. According to The Guardian, "it is an informal understanding, rather than a legally enforceable deal, but it is nevertheless treated with great seriousness within the services". It was coined in Soldiering – The Military Covenant (booklet), UK: Ministry of Defence, April 2000, and has now entered political discourse as a way of measuring whether the government and society at large have kept to their obligations to support members of the armed forces.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) (Bengali: প্রতিরক্ষা মন্ত্রণালয়) is a Bangladeshi government ministry. The MoD is headed by the Minister of Defence, a civilian and member of cabinet. The post is usually held by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, who also serves as the President's second-in-command of the military. The MoD exercises supreme command authority over the Bangladesh Armed Forces.
Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare is a department in the Ministry of Defence, India. It was set up in 2004. The head of Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare since its inception has been a bureaucrat from the IAS. Veteran have for long demanded that DEWS be headed by a serving officers or a retired officer, like in other countries, including the United States, in which the Department of Veterans, is invariably headed by veteran with active duty military experience, with a cabinet rank. For instance the current head of the department is graduate of West Point, and has served in the army.
Brunei and Singapore established diplomatic relations in 1984. Brunei has a high commission in Singapore, and Singapore has a high commission in Bandar Seri Begawan. Brunei and Singapore have close and friendly relations with extensive defence co-operation. Both countries are members of ASEAN and Commonwealth of Nations.
Major James Stephen Heappey is a British politician and former soldier who served as Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 2020 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wells in Somerset from 2015 to 2024.
Overseas military bases of the United Kingdom enable the British Armed Forces to conduct expeditionary warfare and maintain a forward presence. Bases tend to be located in or near areas of strategic or diplomatic importance, often used for the build-up or resupply of military forces, as was seen during the 1982 Falklands War and the use of RAF Ascension Island as a staging post. Most of the bases are located on British Overseas Territories or former colonies which retain close diplomatic ties with the British government.
Exercise Joint Warrior is a major biannual multi-national military exercise which takes place in the United Kingdom, predominately in north west Scotland. It is the successor of the Neptune Warrior exercises and Joint Maritime Course.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is the principal military authority and senior-most appointment of the Indian Armed Forces. Deemed the overall professional head of India’s three armed services, namely, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force, the CDS is the highest-ranking military officer in service, responsible for overseeing inter-service jointness across all disciplines related to military functioning. Primarily, the office operates on a status of primus inter pares i.e., first among equals with the chiefs of the three services, and functions as the Permanent-Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) – the inter-service syndicate responsible for ensuring the establishment and preservation of military integration.
Sarah Elizabeth Atherton is a former British Conservative Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wrexham between 2019 general and 2024. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families from September to October 2022.
Armed forces play a crucial role when responding to crises and emergencies. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, militaries were readily deployed in many countries to assist the civilian medical personnel and overwhelmed hospitals by creating additional hospitals and providing other additional resources. Apart from the management of the health crises, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the military operations. The security and defence related aspects including the missions, operations and training were adversely affected with the Covid-19. The broad spread of Covid can limit the defence forces' ability to carry out a mission. Many military training and exercises have been postponed or cancelled.
This is the structure of the British Armed Forces.
The Armed forces in Wales are the military bases and organisation in Wales or associated with Wales. This includes servicemen and women from Wales and Welsh regiments and brigades of the British Armed Forces.