PRESS STATEMENT
From: Alex Easton MP
It is long past time that justice is delivered to the thousands of part-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment who faithfully served their communities during Northern Ireland’s darkest days but were denied the pension rights afforded to their full-time counterparts.
On 25 November 2025, I asked the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons part-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were not eligible for a pension under the terms of service at the time of their employment, and whether the Department had made any assessment of options for retrospective recognition or provision.
In response on 03 December 2025, the Minister for Veterans and People, Louise Sandher-Jones MP, confirmed that full-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment had an automatic entitlement to become members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, but that part-time members were engaged under different terms and were therefore not included within the scheme. The Department further stated that these terms were considered similar to those of the Territorial Army and reflected that part-time engagements were often on an irregular, intermittent and short-term basis.
However, these men and women stood on the same streets, faced the same terrorist threat, and carried out the same dangerous duties in defence of life and property, often at great personal risk to themselves and their families. Many were targeted by republican terrorists simply because they wore the uniform of the Crown, despite balancing their service with full-time civilian employment.
To this day, many former part-time UDR soldiers have been left without access to a fair pension despite their years of commitment and sacrifice. This is an inequality that must now be addressed as a matter of urgency.
The Government has rightly recognised the contribution of many who served during the Troubles in various capacities. However, failing to extend pension provision to part-time UDR members represents a glaring omission in how we honour those who stepped forward to defend their communities when others could not.
I am calling on the Government to urgently review the current pension arrangements and bring forward proposals which ensure that part-time UDR veterans receive the financial recognition they so clearly deserve.
Their service was real. Their sacrifice was real. It is time their recognition was real too.
Alex Easton MP
Member of Parliament for North Down
