UK Troops-Salary Boost
UK forces on active service in combat zones, like Iraq and Afghanistan, are to receive across-the-board pay increases, several government officials announced.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said Tuesday that it was "right" that British troops should be rewarded properly.

"Already British forces do earn significantly more than their US counterparts and the majority of international forces. But the Secretary of State for Defence and I have agreed that we can go further," Brown revealed.

Speaking at a security conference in London, he said that the government would "increase the award our forces receive when on operational service in the most dangerous conflict zones." "This will seek to ensure that the extraordinary job our forces do and the risks they take and the danger they endure is once again acknowledged, making them amongst the best paid of any armed forces in the world," the chancellor said.

Defence Secretary Des Brown informed parliament later Wednesday about the plans in the form of tax free, flat rate, operational bonus for troops.

Questioned earlier, Prime Minister Tony Blair justified the increase, saying that British troops were facing threats never faced before.

The payment was in recognition of the fact that British troops were going through a completely different experience to soldiers on the battlefield years ago, Blair told the BBC.

The BBC reported that UK forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq would receive cash bonuses to pay off their tax bill following a campaign questioning why they paid tax when working overseas when American troops did not.

The increase comes after it was revealed that British troops wounded while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq will receive an extra allowance of Pnds 10 (Dlrs 18) a day while they are in overseas’ hospitals.

It was also expected that their families would also benefit from additional travel expenses to visit them in hospital and for the free delivery of parcels over the Christmas period and improved access to broadband internet connections.