Looking at some of the achievements of the Armed Forces in recent years it is not difficult to see why they should be treated as a special case and why Britain owes them a debt.

Regulars and reserves have, since 1982, liberated the Falkland Islands, contributed to a peaceful solution in Northern Ireland, helped to drive out the Iraqi occupation force from Kuwait, assisted in the restoration of the legitimate Government in Sierra Leone, relieved humanitarian disasters in the Balkans and Africa and played a pivotal role in response to flooding and a foot-and-mouth epidemic in Britain. Not to mention the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where, to date, a total of 120,000 have served in the former and about 30,000 in the latter.

The welfare of the Armed Forces has become a hot political issue, not least because slow decision-making, poor judgment and a battle for funding have made it look as if troops have been prepared inadequately for the rigours of war in extreme climatic conditions. War fatigue has also set in with the public. Iraq was never a popular war and many voters find it difficult to understand why we have nearly 8,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Now the Ministry of Defence is trying to reassure the troops abroad that their families will be looked after properly and that if they suffer injuries they will be compensated generously.

It is an appalling blight on Britain's reputation to hear about ex-servicemen living on the streets, of disabled soldiers being insulted in a town swimming pool, of military personnel in uniform being abused in public. All of these things have happened.

The command paper published by the MoD seeks to address all the welfare issues affecting the Forces, and it is up to the public to take the military to their heart and to be thankful for what they are achieving on their behalf, whether or not they like what the politicians have asked them to do.

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