BAFF

The Government is to offer housing aid and job training in a bid to win support over the Afghan war.

The Observer reports that the Prime Minister has ordered a series of new measures to help military families get on the housing ladder and find jobs amid growing fears that the loss of public support for the war in Afghanistan could spread to the forces community.

In an unprecedented move that reflects deepening anxiety in government about low morale among soldiers' relatives, the prime minister has invited 80 members of forces families, including wives and grandparents of serving soldiers, to Downing Street this week for a private reception to discuss their concerns.

The meeting on Thursday will coincide with an announcement by defence secretary Bob Ainsworth and leader of the house Harriet Harman of government action to help them gain better access to childcare, training and education and to help them search for work. Ministers will also announce within weeks a new "shared equity" scheme to help forces families buy their own homes. Unlike other shared equity projects, the forces families will be able to switch the equity to other properties as they are transferred from base to base. Initially ministers will pledge £20m with a guarantee to extend the scheme if it were to prove popular...

Ministers are worried that if criticism of the government, and the war, were voiced by military families regularly, public support would collapse. Yesterday the first signs of cabinet unease over the government's failure to sell the Afghanistan mission surfaced when Welsh secretary Peter Hain called for ministers to be clearer about its strategy. "We need to get a grip on it," he said.

In an interview with the Observer, Harman, who is also minister for women and equality, said military wives needed particular help. "The army wives have to move around the country. They are often miles away from their family and they often are spending a lot of time on their own. We want to make sure that they have the same opportunities for work and training, that are made more difficult by them moving around." ...

In a sign of increasing discontent, the federations representing service families have sent a letter to armed forces minister Kevan Jones complaining about the withdrawal of childcare vouchers, which they say are vital in helping military wives get back to work.

Observer article 15.11.09  in full: Brown to give help to Army families - by Toby Helm and Mark Townsend