Dudley Gulf War veteran in pension fight after illness forced him to give up work

Martin Budge, from Dudley, is unable to get out of bed some days as a result of the lung condition sarcoidosis caused by army vaccinations given to combat anthrax and other deadly chemicals it was feared Saddam Hussein would unleash on British troops.

The crippling side effects of the disease include blind spots in both eyes, double cataracts, headaches, deafness, joint pain and frightening episodes of not being able to breathe.

Now a War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Panel, sitting in Birmingham, has ruled he is entitled to an upgrade in his weekly pension. It is expected to rise by a third from £60 to £80 per week.

But Mr Budge said such is the 'faceless bureaucracy' of the government's Veterans UK Office that, despite the tribunal's findings, it could take months for the money to come through, if at all.

The 56-year-old, a former warrant officer with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, said: "I loved being in the Army but I feel very bitter about how I have been treated since then.

"When I had the injections there was no choice. You just stood in a line, and those injections took place very regularly. When I approached the War Office for medical records to use as evidence at the tribunal, I was told they had been destroyed.

"Veterans UK have been given deadlines which they repeatedly break because it is a government department and no one person is held accountable.

"If this was the DWP, it would have been sorted within three months, and there would have been riots in the streets if it hadn't but here I am more than two years down the line, still waiting.

"With the MoD, it feels like they hope veterans will give up, exhausted and frustrated by the system. It's not easy, when you're feeling ill, to find the energy to cope with these delays."

After leaving the Army, Mr Budge was a senior manager with BT until his ill health forced him into early retirement.

He said: "BT were great to me. They changed my conditions of work to allow me to work from home, and more flexibly, but when you can't work three days out of four, it's time to call it a day.

"I miss working. Life is a struggle. It's frightening to wake up in the night gasping for breath, and it's frightening for my partner, too."

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We are indebted to all those who served our country in the Gulf Wars and in recognition of this we have full and comprehensive compensation schemes in place for anyone who was injured or fell ill as a result of their service."