My week ahead, 7 - 13 April (and beyond) 2014

Monday – 7 April, Culture Portfolio meeting
4pm - 6pm Labour campaigning

Wednesday – 9 April, 2pm, Attending and participating in a meeting with the Shadow Defence team at the Houses of Parliament

Thursday – 10 April, 9am , Depart for a Duke of Edinburgh Expedition in Mid Wales

Tuesday 15 April – Thursday 22 May Campaigning for both the Borough and European elections

My last regular ‘week ahead’ column till the end of May

Well the ‘short’ campaign has started for the May elections – I am sure with the election so late in May it seems like a ‘long- short’ campaign!

With the serious campaigning starting it will now see a reduction in the number of meetings that a councillor can attend. But we still have some important meetings including the Planning Committee.

I also have an important date at the end of the month when I will be attending a special Centenary ‘Birthday Party’ at my former Primary School St Helen's on Woodbridge Road. It will be a privilege to attend this important occasion at the school which gave me such a good start in life.

This Wednesday I have been invited to Westminster to speak with the Shadow Defence Team as they work their policies they hope to implement in 2015 if we win the General Election. The good news for everyone is that the Labour Defence team are speaking to veterans, military experts and families when they look at their plans for the military. The Armed Forces have seen its morale depressed by the savage cuts imposed by the Tory Government. Improving morale and creating an Armed Forces that can still play an important part in world defence.

As i mentioned at the start of this post, this will be my last ‘week ahead’ post till the end of May, this is because any spare minute I get will spent campaigning for Labour in Ipswich. It is important that you do not ‘burn out’ over the next 6 weeks so there will be occasional breaks from delivering and talking to resident, most of these will be watching football but I also have a few days in Mid Wales leading a Duke of Edinburgh expedition.

Walking up mountains in Wales will be good training for the many miles I will be walking as we deliver the Labour message to the residents of Ipswich.

The Military Covenant- Tory commission- a right wing author and no money!

Frederick Forsyth- right wing friend of Mr Tebbit!

Cameron and the Tory Party are going to make the state of our Armed Forces an election issue. Over the last 12 months, much of the media has started to get rightfully behind our Armed Forces and the Tory Party have tried to make themselves seen as the party that is most in tune with the needs of the Armed Forces.

The media has made much of the supposedly broken 'Military Covenant '(with the help of a number retired Generals and Admirals who were deafeningly quiet when they themselves were in the higher echelons of the Ministry of Defence!)) Cameron has now set up a commission to look at the state of the Military Covenant, the commission is led by the right wing author- Frederick Forsyth and also includes a number of ex military men such as Simon Weston, one of the survivors from the ship that caught fire at Bluff Cove during the Falklands War.

As an ex military man, I am concerned about over stretch of our Armed Forces, I believe that we need to make sure we look after our Armed Services, their families and veterans- but that will take more money- the Tories will say they have all the answers but look at their Commission website to spot the obvious holes in their plan- the most obvious failing being at the bottom of their introductory page:

" 4. Any recommendations made by the Commission must be paid for within existing and planned defence budgets."

Well as the MOD is not just over stretched but overspent- I can't see the Tory option of repairing the Covenant but spending no money in the process is going to work!

As someone who spent most of his 24 years service under a Tory government, I remember well the times we were under equipped- with the excuses of "it went down on the Atlantic Conveyor" or "it was destroyed in the fire at Donnington" used when we were still walking round in equipment from the 50's. Simon Weston should remember more than most that the Guards Regiments left for the Falklands with blue civilian rucksacks as most of the Army was still walking round with 1958 webbing. Tory Secretary's of State for Defence never seemed to speak to the rank and file, I can remember being hid away on a range in Germany with any one else who they thought would say the wrong thing when Mr Hesseltine turned up (wearing a new combat jacket- when we were in old kit) and Nicholas Soames was only interested in a lunch in the Officers Mess with his old Eton cronies. it was not till Labour's George Robertson got into the post that the rank and file soldier were deemed worthy of meeting the minister.

The Armed Forces are not looked after better by a Tory Government and we need to get that message over not only to the general public but also to members of the Armed Forces, their families and veterans.