The Armed Forces- Why can't we get the Labour message over?

Last week saw the publication of the Independent National Recognition of the Armed Forces study by Quentin Davies MP. This saw some excellent initiatives and also highlighted what this Labour Government has already done for our Armed Forces. The report makes 40 recommendations, the key ones being:

• Greater encouragement for the military to wear uniforms in public where circumstances and Service rules allow;


• Creating a British Armed Forces and Veterans Day;


• Supporting extra Local Authority engagement for Homecoming Parades;


• and Strengthening cadet organisations by expanding combined cadet forces in Comprehensive Schools and introducing a Cadet Ambassador in London to encourage schools to get their pupils involved in cadet forces.
  

Now I agree with all these, the Cadet issue has already been raised by Gordon Brown and I see it as a good idea- as long as the funding is there and some of the NUT do not get too upset! The uniform one is a funny one, much was made of the instruction by senior RAF officers for their personnel not to wear uniform in Peterborough- now as an ex soldier- we actually like to get out of our uniform after work, but it would be great if you could stay in uniform just to pop to the bank at lunchtime, but also as an ex Sergeant Major- you do not want to see soldiers in some sort of half uniform/half civilian shirt which is what we have at present in many garrison towns.

The report also highlights what has already been done and what is already in the pipeline- again, much as been made by the Tories about the state of Married quarters, but it was the Tories who sold off the Married quarter estate management! Secondly, times have changed and many servicemen now look to purchase their own homes much earlier. What this Government has already done for servicemen and their families includes:

• Labour agreed one of the highest pay rises in the public sector for all servicemen and women following on from last year's 9 per cent pay rise for the lowest paid private soldiers. For those on operation abroad we have introduced a tax-free monthly bonus of almost £400 and have extended council tax relief.


• Over the next ten years the Labour Government will invest over £8 billion on improving our armed forces' accommodation. This will lead to a further upgrade in accommodation after years of neglect under previous Tory governments
  

But why can't we get our message over? the Tories and Cameron came out with a Military Covenant Commission, who we have not been heard from since it's launch but who got far more press than Labour did last week with the publication of Independent National Recognition of the Armed Forces study. Was it because the Tories had a famous (if right wing) novelist on their commission or because they had a famous ex soldier in Simon Weston- or was it because our study was led by a Labour MP who jumped the Tory ship? What ever the reason is, we need to get it right, as an ex soldier I know the Tories did little for us when in power but you can't expect many ex Generals to say that once they are out of the Army and looking for a directorship at some bank/ institution. The treatment of our Armed Forces is an important matter to all the public- much can be learnt from the poem"Tommy Atkins" by Kipling on how not to treat your Armed Forces and maybe we should remember the Labour poster from 1945- that helped us to that great election win!

Lets us again make us the party that both servicemen, their families and the general public know look after their armed forces the best. As the reports states:

"Our Armed Forces are the best in the world, putting their lives at risk to protect Britain and promote peace around the world."

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.