To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of veterans who left the services prior to 1 April 1975 who are eligible to be awarded the Veterans Badge; and how many such veterans have been awarded the badge. (143672)

The Ministry of Defence does not have the information required to make an accurate assessment of the number of people entitled to the HM Armed Forces Veterans Badge prior to 1 April 1975. However, it is estimated that the total number of all veterans who will be eligible to apply is around five million.

Over 460,000 badges have been issued in total.