Veterans and the Armed Forces Community

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 3 December 2019.

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Photo of Mark Griffin Mark Griffin Labour

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate on armed forces veterans. From the outset, I acknowledge the debt of gratitude that Scotland owes to those who have served in the defence of freedom and to put on record the continued support that we in the Labour Party give to our armed forces personnel and veterans.

We are committed to continuing to work on a cross-party basis to ensure that our veterans and their families receive the support that they need and deserve.

In particular, we recognise that our service personnel often need help with the transition to civilian life, especially in finding housing and employment, and we recognise that those who leave the service can bear physical and psychological scars for many years after their service ends.

Veterans are an asset to Scotland’s workplaces and communities, and we must ensure that we can harness their potential and fully support them in that transition to civilian life.

Those who have sacrificed most for our country deserve the best services and care possible and although recent updates highlight progress, there has not yet been enough progress on areas of need outlined by the Scottish veterans commissioner. In particular, the commissioner has noted that funding for specialist mental and physical health services for veterans is disjointed and, in some cases, ad hoc. Positive progress has been made to address veterans’ housing needs, but recent figures show that that may be reversing, with an increase in homelessness among the veteran community. A more ambitious approach is needed, both to supporting our veterans and ending homelessness in general, to ensure that that does not become a long-term trend.

We have a clear plan to support veterans across the UK including compensating nuclear test veterans, guaranteeing access to specialist mental and physical health services across Scotland, creating a minimum housing allocation for veterans, and investigating and acting on the barriers to veterans accessing services, particularly mental health services. Being a member of the armed forces, particularly during times of conflict, is immensely stressful, beyond anything that we can imagine. That stressful situation creates a level of commitment and an intense bond among service personnel that is unique to our armed forces. We can only imagine how isolated someone must feel if they are discharged from the armed forces into society alone, perhaps with no family support, having had such a close bond with the comrades they fought with and possibly lost in combat. They sometimes go from living at very close quarters with people they consider family—eating, sleeping, working and socialising with the same close group—to being discharged into a community of strangers who tend not to understand military life and the bond between people that it creates.

I cannot stress strongly enough that the majority of servicemen and women make a successful transition to civilian life. The veterans we have in Scotland are not a problem; they are absolutely an asset to our communities. Veterans have transferable skills that they may not realise they have, which become assets to companies and communities. However, for the reasons I mentioned earlier, it really is not hard to see why a minority of veterans struggle to adapt and reintegrate, which can put a massive strain on family life as well as on those without family. It is vital that advice and support services are in place to help former service personnel adjust to living in mainstream society. We must support plans to co-ordinate and deliver support and advice services from the public, private and voluntary sectors for ex-service personnel, their partners and children.

I close as I opened by acknowledging the debt of gratitude that Scotland owes to those who have served in our armed forces in defence of freedom. We will support the Government's motion at decision time tonight and, as always, we are happy to work on a cross-party basis to support veterans in Scotland.