OUR government was elected with a clear commitment to renew the nation’s contract with those men and women who serve in our Armed Forces and the ranks of veterans who have put their lives on the line for the UK. The latest figures show there are 2,703 veterans living in Barrow-in-Furness alone.
At the time of writing this column I was preparing to contribute to the Armed Forces Bill debate taking place in Westminster today (Monday).
The Bill delivers the promise to improve housing, services and give better protections for our forces and their families – and improve readiness in this era of growing threat.
The world is now a more dangerous place because of rising geopolitical tensions – not least in the High North.
The message to our Armed Forces must be clear – this government is on your side.
Through this Bill we will create a new Defence Housing Service that puts forces and their families first, backed by a landmark £9bn strategy to build, renew and repair tens of thousands of military homes.
The legislation I am supporting today will turbocharge a generational renewal of nine in 10 forces’ homes, while kickstarting the development of 100,000 homes on surplus defence land, with personnel and veterans the first in line.
This step in our landmark housing strategy was made possible by Labour’s deal to bring 36,000 forces family homes back into public ownership.
We ended the disastrous 1996 Tory privatisation of military housing which cost the taxpayer billions.
Labour’s buy-back saves more than £200m per year in rent payments, savings which are now being reinvested in fixing forces’ homes.
Labour is also extending the Armed Forces Covenant to every area of government – and through the Armed Forces Bill we are delivering on that promise.
The covenant is the nation’s promise to deliver fairness for serving personnel, veterans, their families and the bereaved.
The covenant will be devolved across all areas of central government, devolved governments and local authorities – fulfilling a manifesto promise.
There will be better protections for those who serve.
All those who serve our country must be able to do so with dignity and respect; they deserve confidence in a Service Justice System that will give them the right support.
Many observers acknowledge that global tensions are at an all-time high.
Against that backdrop it’s more critical than ever that we keep our citizens safe.
As threats grow, Britain must step up and take decisive action to boost its preparedness.
This Bill will expand our reserve pool for rapid mobilisation when our nation needs them or in a time of crisis and it says much about Labour’s commitment to our people, to our Armed Forces and to those who have served in years gone by.
Those who serve or who have served, both at home and all over the globe, deserve the new support that Labour is providing.