TA soldiers deserve equality

The days when joining the Territorial Army meant no more than a few weekends in a drill hall followed by a fortnight running up and down hills and practising shooting on a firing range are over. More than 13,000 Territorial Army volunteers have served in the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past four years. They may be doctors, nurses, plumbers or postmen, but when required they face exactly the same dangers as our regular service personnel: six TA members have died and 16 have been wounded in action since 2001. They can hardly be dismissed as "weekend warriors" or said to be playing at soldiers.