Armed Forces 

• Care for veterans 
• Fully Funding the Armed Forces

At a time when Politicians across Europe are entertaining a seemingly insatiable, visceral desire to send its young men and women into war, it should be a matter of great concern for every parent that there are politicians in this country who seem to want to follow suit.

Our Britain of today is not the Britain of just 80 years ago, a global powerhouse at the head of an Empire so great that on which the sun never set. Britain today is a small country. After decades of gross, political failure, it is a broken country, lost and broken industries, a weak and failing economy, a shattered and fractured society. The notion that our Britain, in the state that we find it today, should be contemplating a major war is a criminal level of political incompetence.

The simple reality is that our Britain has neither the industry nor the treasure to sustain a war with anyone. This monumental failure of a fundamental function of Government, securing the security of its citizens, has to be addressed. To this end I propose the development of a strategic drive, that integrates every aspect of industrial production needed to serve our armed forces and as much as possible based in the UK.

No politician should be giving voice to any kind of war until all of our armed forces are fully supported and properly equipped. The profound and significant gaps in the equipping of the Army truly beggar belief.

Care for Veterans and their families.

Our diminished Armed forces want for many things, not least recruits. Whilst there might be many reasons for this, one lamentable reason must be the lack of support and care for our ex service men and women, and their families. The cost to our surviving, brave young men and women in their service to our country can be quite terrible, not just in broken bodies, but in broken minds as well. For example, more of our military personnel who served in the Falklands, died at their own hand, long after the conflict was over, than died in the fighting. It is a horror of neglect how readily Governments of any colour are all too ready to leave our brave, damaged boys and girls to live out their lives on the streets and die in the gutters. We must and we can do better. 

No longer should the provision for our veterans be the product of charities. Welcome and valued as they are. The fact that this happens at all is an indelible stain on our body politic. The veterans, in their service and sacrifice, have earned the support that they need and it is a matter for Government that it is unstintingly, unreservedly provided.

I hold that no public services should be charities. And I propose their excellent and necessary work be fully funded by the state, simply because it is necessary work and our ex servicemen and women shouldn’t need to beg anyone for the support they have truly earned.