Editing Eric Joyce (section)

==Early life and education==
Joyce lived in [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]], [[Scotland]], with his family for most of his childhood and adolescence. He joined the Army in 1978, initially as a [[private (rank)|private]] in the [[Black Watch]] before taking a sabbatical between 1981 and 1987 to attend technical college and university where he gained a BA (Hons) in [[Religious Studies]] from [[Stirling University]].<ref name="Eric Joyce: Life and times">{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13048546.eric-joyce-life-times/|title = Eric Joyce: Life and times| date=26 February 2012 }}</ref> As a university candidate, he was made a probationary second lieutenant on 25 August 1987.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=51158|date=21 December 1987|page=15612|supp=y }}</ref>

In 1987 he attended the [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst]] before being commissioned into the [[Royal Army Educational Corps]] (later [[Adjutant General's Corps]]) as a [[Subaltern (military)|subaltern]] with seniority to 7 October 1981.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=51349|date=27 May 1988|page=8350|supp=y }}</ref> After receiving his commission he continued his studies in-service and acquired an MA in education from the [[University of Bath]] and an MBA from [[Keele University]].<ref name="Eric Joyce: Life and times"/> During his time in the Army he served in Great Britain, [[Northern Ireland]], Germany and Central America. He was promoted to [[Captain (land)|captain]] on 25 January 1990<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=52144|date=21 May 1990|page=9478|supp=y }}</ref> and to major in 1992.<ref>{{cite news|first=Rajeev |last=Syal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/mar/15/eric-joyce-arrest-mp-police |title=Eric Joyce arrest: 'he was being held down by police officers'|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 March 2013}}</ref>

Joyce became involved in controversy after describing the Army "as being run by a coterie of white, male, privately-educated generals and said it was rife with racism and sexism."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/226266.stm|title=UK Politics: Outspoken major 'protected' by ministers|work=[[BBC News Online]]|date=2 December 1998|access-date=3 September 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/60876.stm|title=UK: Outspoken army major faces sack|work=[[BBC News Online]]|date=28 February 1998|access-date=3 September 2009}}</ref> A [[Fabian Society|Fabian]] pamphlet by Joyce titled ''Arms and the Man: renewing the armed services'' had been published without the proper authorisation, breaching ''[[Queen's Regulations]]'', which govern the conduct of officers in the British armed forces.<ref>{{cite news|first=Christopher |last=Bellamy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/major-in-class-row-set-to-escape-court-martial-1244114.html |title=Major in class row set to escape court martial|newspaper= The Independent|date= 7 August 1997}}</ref><ref name="Goodwin">{{cite news|first=Stephen |last=Goodwin |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/defiant-major-is-told-to-quit-1046912.html |title=Defiant major is told to quit|newspaper=The Independent|date=14 January 1999}}</ref> He continued to speak out about how he perceived the army to the disapproval of his superiors. At a hearing in January 1999 which invoked the [[Pay Warrant]] rules, Joyce was requested to resign from the army by 13 March or be discharged.<ref name="Goodwin"/><ref>{{cite news|first=Gerald |last=Seenan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/jan/14/gerardseenan1 |title=Marching orders for outspoken major|newspaper=The Guardian|date=14 January 1999}}</ref> He resigned his commission on 12 March 1999 and left the army,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=55453|date=12 April 1999|page=4137|supp=y }}</ref>

Joyce subsequently served on the staff of the [[Commission for Racial Equality]] (Scotland) before his election to the House of Commons.<ref>{{cite news|first=Christopher |last=Hope |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown/6135111/Eric-Joyce-a-profile.html |title=Eric Joyce: a profile|newspaper= The Daily Telegraph|date=4 September 2009}}</ref>