The IndependentThe mother of a teenage soldier killed in Iraq has condemned the Ministry of Defence after it ruled that he did not qualify for a pension.
Rose Gentle also called on the Prime Minister to withdraw British troops from Iraq and bring them home for Christmas as she announced an anti-war demonstration would be held later this month.
Private Gordon Gentle, 19, from the Pollok area of Glasgow, was serving with the Royal Highland Fusiliers when he was killed in a roadside blast in Basra on 28 June. But Mrs Gentle, 40, said she could not believe her son sacrificed his life but did not qualify for a pension.
'We got a pamphlet a few weeks ago about Gordon's insurance and it said that because he had only been in so long he was not entitled to a pension,' she said. 'If he was not entitled to a pension, why was he sent to war? It is not about money ? it is the principle. I don't understand why he can get killed in a war but he does not qualify for a pension.'
Mrs Gentle said she now intended to pursue the matter with the MoD.
Looking ahead to the demonstration to be held in Pollok on 30 October, she said: 'We are hoping for a big turn-out. We have got to get the troops home for Christmas. They should all be brought home. The boys do not want to be there.'
Mrs Gentle was joined at the press conference by her 14-year-old daughter Maxine, the leader of the Scottish Socialists, Tommy Sheridan, and the North Pollok community council leader George McNeilage.
Mrs Gentle invited the Prime Minister to attend the demonstration in Pollok to listen to the views of the community. 'He is getting a chance to send more innocent people to be killed. The people who back him, none of them have sons or daughters in the forces.
'Tony Blair can come to Pollok for the demonstration but he thinks we are just working-class people who should shut up.'
A spokesman for the MoD said: 'Private Gentle did not qualify for a pension because he was single and did not have any dependants. As such, his estate was entitled to a lump sum.'"
The ScotsmanThe mother of a soldier killed in Basra today launched an appeal for all British troops be brought home from Iraq by Christmas.
Private Gordon Gentle, 19, from Pollok, Glasgow, was serving with the Royal Highland Fusiliers when he was killed in a roadside blast on June 28.
His mother, Rose, hopes hundreds of people will march through Pollok this month to demand the return of soldiers from Iraq by 25 December.
Mrs Gentle said:
“My son should never have been sent to Iraq in the first place. Tony Blair lied to justify an illegal invasion.
“He has the blood of Gordon and thousands of others on his hands. I don’t want another mother to go through my heartbreak.”Backing her plans for a rally in Pollok on
Saturday 30 October, Scottish Socialist leader Tommy Sheridan said:
“Tony Blair talks of a blood price being paid in Iraq.
“But it’s not his blood or his family who paid the price. It’s working class boys from schemes like Pollok who end up losing their lives and limbs for Bush’s oil war.
“Iraq was illegally invaded and is now illegally occupied. I am backing Rose Gentle’s call to bring home all the troops by Christmas.”Mrs Gentle met Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in August after travelling to Downing Street to deliver a letter protesting against the war to Tony Blair.
However just minutes into the meeting Mrs Gentle stormed out, accusing Mr Prescott of “talking rubbish”.
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