Local MP David Mundell has expressed his delight after the Government announced that Malayan Emergency veterans would be allowed to wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal in time for Remembrance Sunday.
Mr Mundell, who has supported the campaign to allow the veterans to wear the decoration for many years, has praised the campaigners for all their hard work fighting for their cause.
Commenting after Conservative Defence Minister Lord Astor of Hever announced that the government would recommend to Her Majesty the Queen that the veterans be granted the right to wear the medal Mr Mundell said: “I am absolutely delighted that the Government has now resolved the PJM issue and allowed veterans who were awarded the medal to wear it. I pay tribute to all the campaigners who have fought for so long to for their right to wear it, including my constituent Andrew Nicoll.
“I have always thought it was not acceptable that in other Commonwealth countries veterans could wear the medal but here they could not. I have done my best to represent those views to ministers over several years. I was confident that when the matter was thoroughly examined, as this Government has done, natural justice would be satisfied and veterans would be given the right to wear the medal. This has never been about politics for me; it has been about trying to get the right outcome.”