"I was delighted to learn in a letter from my colleague Andrew Robathan MP, Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, that changes to the rules on campaign medals will mean that all personnel who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since those conflicts began will receive the recognition they deserve," said North Wiltshire MP James Gray.

"At present, some personnel, for example the Aeromedical Evacuation Teams like those based at RAF Lyneham, have not qualified for medals because they did not meet the 30 days continuous service requirement. Now, personnel who deploy for short periods can accrue aggregate qualifying service, and this will be retrospective to the start of both operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is excellent news."