Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 16 May 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 20 May 2008. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Thursday, 22 May 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what basis service personnel qualify for (a) an Iraq Medal and (b) bars to the Iraq Medal; what changes have been made to this procedure since the conflict began; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The qualification criteria for the Iraq Medal and clasp are published in Command Paper 6135 presented to Parliament in February 2004 and subsequently amended by Command Paper 6936 dated October 2006, copies of which were placed in the Library of the House. On 5 December 2007 Her Majesty the Queen approved a further amendment to the criteria for all current operational medals to include those whose qualifying service is prematurely curtailed by imprisonment, detention or internment.

Secondary information