Ex-MoD official from Holgate, York, settles his employment tribunal case

John Salisbury-Baker, 63, of Holgate, who was pursuing a claim for disability discrimination, reached a compromise deal with the Ministry of Defence earlier this year.

Under the confidential deal, he agreed not to talk to journalists about the settlement, but he says now he will not be silenced on issues of post-traumatic stress and the standard of equipment issued to British troops.

“I fully believe I can still talk about the state of equipment our men and women were issued with,” he said.

The Press exclusively revealed last year how Mr Salisbury-Baker, a former press officer based at Imphal Barracks, planned to claim at a tribunal that he had had to “defend the morally indefensible” when telling the media that army vehicles – such as Snatch Land Rovers – were adequately equipped to withstand roadside bombs.

He also intended to speak of the intolerable stress he went through in visiting and helping more than a dozen families devastated by the deaths of their loved ones, who had often been killed by such bombs.

His controversial allegations were expected to cause further difficulties for a Government already under fire over its efforts to cut compensation for soldiers wounded in Afghanistan, and the story was reported by news organisations around the world.

He said today: “People rightly focus on the Post Traumatic Stress suffered by our soldiers. I could not agree more. The soldiers come first and not enough is done for them. But I do believe that, as a secondary priority, there should be real support for people like me.”

An MoD spokesman said today that a legally binding agreement had been reached between it and Mr John Salisbury-Baker in March, without admission of liability and in full and final settlement of claims.

“Both parties agreed to keep the terms of this agreement confidential and we will not discuss it with a third party,” he said.