Military veterans who served in the Second World War are to be given priority healthcare on the NHS for the rest of their lives.

Under government plans announced over the weekend all veterans, also including those who fought in Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan, will be allowed to jump to the top of the waiting list.

Mike O'Brien, the health minister, said that meetings with those wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan convinced him veterans needed special treatment. Mr O'Brien said he had ordered the fast-tracking of the scheme to begin now.