Royal British Legion: 'Research needed into Gulf War illnesses'

The Royal British Legion has said more needs to be done to help those affected by Gulf War Syndrome.

More than 33,000 British servicemen are thought to be suffering from health problems linked to taking part in the military operation, which started 25 years ago and drove Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

Reported symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome range from chronic fatigue, headaches and sleep disturbances to joint pains, irritable bowel, stomach and respiratory disorders and psychological problems.

But the MoD says "the overwhelming consensus of the scientific and medical community" is that the range of symptoms is too broad "for this ill health to be characterised as a syndrome in medical terms".

James Longman reports.