An open letter to the Prime Minister

Have your say: Independent on Sunday readers are invited to become signatories to the following letter. You can do so by emailing your name and address to sundayletters@independent.co.uk

The Independent on Sunday last week revealed the mental health crisis within Britain's armed forces, and the poverty of treatment available to service personnel suffering from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of serving in battle. The newspaper also published an open letter to Tony Blair, calling on on him to restore the Military Covenant, the mutual obligation binding the nation, armed forces and all servicemen. It means the Governments owes the armed forces they commit to military action a duty of care. Specifically, it requires that war is lawful, that the services have adequate resources to carry out the tasks the Government demands of them, and that they - and their families - have the right properly to be looked after in the event of injury or death. The families of servicemen and women killed in action, politicians, public figures and our readers have backed the letter, which can be read at independent. co.uk. Almost 500 have signed the letter so far, including Sean Connery, Michael Foot and Reg Keys. It will be presented to Downing Street on Tuesday, the fourth anniversary of the start of the invasion.

Signatories include:

Jenny Agutter, actress;

Debbie Allbutt, wife of Cpl Stephen Allbutt, 35, died 2003;

David Amess, Conservative MP;

Anna Aston, wife of Cpl Russell Aston, 30, died 2003;

Roger and Maureen Bacon, parents of Matthew Bacon, died 2005;

Iain Banks, author;

Tony Benn, former Labour MP and Cabinet Minister;

Billy Bragg, musician;

Simon Callow, actor;

Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the Lib Dems;

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty;

Sean Connery, actor;

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP;

James and Ray Craw, parents of L/Cpl Andrew Craw, 21, died 2004;

Bob Crow, National Rail, Maritime and Transport general secretary;

Chris Davies, Lib Dem MEP

Andy de la Tour, actor, playwright;

Brian Eno, musician;

Jonathan Evans, Conservative MEP;

Sir Richard Eyre, Film, television and theatre director;

Julian Fellowes, actor;

Mark Fisher, Labour MP;

Michael Foot, ex-Labour Party leader;

George Galloway, Respect MP

Rose Gentle, mother of Fusilier Gordon Gentle, 19, died 2004;

Richard, Karen and Catherine Green, parents and sister of Lt Philip Green, 30, died 2003;

Katharine Hamnett, fashion designer;

Ed Harcourt, musician;

Mike Hancock, Lib Dem MP and member of Commons defence committee;

Nick Harvey, defence spokesman, Liberal Democrats;

Nicky Haslam, fashion designer;

Fran Healy, singer with pop group Travis;

Sharon Hehir, wife of Sgt Les Hehir, 34, died 2003;

Pauline Hickey, mother of Sgt Chris Hickey, 30, died 2005;

Mark Hunter, Lib Dem MP;

Armando Iannucci, satirist, writer and producer

Bianca Jagger, human rights campaigner;

Boris Johnson, Conservative MP

Carol Jones, mother of Sgt John Jones, died 2005;

Sajjad Karim, Lib Dem MEP

Reg Keys, father of L/Cpl Thomas Keys, 20, died 2003;

Peter Kilfoyle, Labour MP and former armed forces minister;

George and Ann Lawrence, parents of Lt Marc Lawrence, 26, of 849 Squadron, RNAS Culdrose, died 22 March 2003;

Robert Lawrence, Falklands war veteran;

Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru MP;

Janet Lowrie, secretary for Military Families Against the War;

Nell McAndrew, model;

John McDonald, Labour MP;

Kevin McDonald, Representative of the South Atlantic Medal Association;

Natasha McLellan, partner of Matthew Bacon;

Tony McNally, author and Falklands veteran;

Humfrey Malins, Conservative MP;

Mike Mattrass, UKIP MEP;

Michael Meacher, Labour MP;

Patrick Mercer, Conservative MP and former soldier;

Michael Moore, Lib Dem MP;

Ernie Morton, father of current serving member of the Parachute Regiment;

Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan;

Mark Oaten, Lib Dem MP;

Lembit Opik, Lib Dem MP;

Richard Ottaway, Conservative MP and Formal Naval Officer;

Lucy Pinder, Forces pin-up model;

Harold Pinter, Nobel laureate and playwright;

Adam Price, Plaid Cymru MP and defence spokesman;

Mark Pritchard, Conservative MP;

Tracy, Tony and Mair Pritchard, wife and parents of Cpl Dewi Pritchard, 32, of 116 Provost Company (volunteers), died 23 August 2003;

John Pugh, Lib Dem MP;

Bob Russell, Lib Dem MP and Parliamentary advisor to the Royal British Legion;

Jack Russell, artist

Alex Salmond, Scottish National Party leader;

Richard Shepherd, Conservative MP;

Clare Short, Independent MP;

Alan Simpson, Labour MP;

Arthur Smith, comedian;

Sue Smith, mother of Pte Philip Hewett, 21, of 1st Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment, died 16 July 2005;

Dr Bob Spink, Conservative MP and former RAF officer;

Sir Tom Stoppard, playwright

Andrew Stunell, Lib Dem MP;

Janet Suzman, actress;

Claire Sweeney, singer and TV personality;

Peter Tatchell, human rights activist;

Mark Thomas, comedian;

Emma Thompson, actress;

Chris Waddle, ex-England footballer;

Ben Wallace, Conservative MPand former soldier;

Julie Walters, actress;

Robert Walter, Conservative MP;

John Whittaker, Lib Dem MEP;

Charles Wood, Tumbledown scriptwriter;

Tony Woodley, General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union

Susannah York, actress

Have your say: Independent on Sunday readers are invited to become signatories to this following letter. You can do so by emailing your name and address to sundayletters@independent.co.uk

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