Political Opinion: Veterans are the bedrock of our country - Labour is renewing our nation’s contract with those who served

During fourteen years of Conservative Government, I know many veterans felt ignored and disrespected.

In the final two years of Tory government, the number of veterans forced to rely on Universal Credit rose by 65 per cent to a shocking 65,000.

The Tories oversaw a postcode lottery of veteran support, halving employment support for veterans by cutting the number of armed forces champions in job centres from 100 to 50.

Their treatment was, frankly, unacceptable. We should be deeply proud of our Armed Forces personnel, veterans, and the families who support them, for the contribution they make to our country.

In March I invited the Veterans Minster and the Secretary of State for Defence to Dinnington to hear the views of local veterans and explain how the Government planned to meet the challenge of improving the services that are provided to them.

Labour is committed to renewing our nation’s contract – and I am proud to see this week new investment in support for veterans through our new VALOUR system, named to celebrate the courage of our veteran community.

VALOUR, backed by a landmark £50 million of funding, will help ensure that every veteran, regardless of where they live, can access joined up support to reach their full potential.

This funding will establish a new network of VALOUR-recognised support centres in every nation of the UK and deploy Regional Field Officers to connect local, regional and national services – while harnessing the power of data to shape better services.

These new Regional Field Officers will bring together charities, service providers and local government, to provide more evidence and feedback drive support for veterans, across housing, employment, health and welfare.

VALOUR comes on top of the work we started to improve veterans lives last July – millions of pounds of funding to reduce veteran homelessness, repair and renovate veterans homes and provide support in mental health and employment.

Veterans are the foundation on which modern Britain was built. We need to give them the respect, dignity and support they need while we enjoy the British values they fought for.