In a press release from the Labour Party, Leader Keir Starmer has pledged that Labour will be “a government of service, for those who serve.”
This commitment, say the party, announced on Armed Forces Day, underscores Labour’s dedication to ensuring the voices of those who defend the country are heard at the highest level through the establishment of a new Armed Forces Commissioner.
Starmer, alongside Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey, marked Armed Forces Day by joining a veterans’ coffee morning in the South East of England.
During this event, they paid tribute to the entire Armed Forces community and outlined Labour’s plans to support service personnel and their families through tangible actions.
Keir Starmer stated, “Labour is deeply proud of our Armed Forces personnel, veterans, and their families for the contribution they make to our country. Theirs is the ultimate public service – and their professionalism and bravery is rightly respected across the world.”
He announced that the new Armed Forces Commissioner would have the authority to investigate and report on issues affecting service personnel, such as sub-standard housing, faulty equipment, and poor discharge support.
The Commissioner will also be granted the right to visit and inspect Ministry of Defence sites without prior approval from the Defence Secretary. These powers are intended to provide an unvarnished look at the issues affecting forces personnel and their families.
Starmer emphasized, “This changed Labour Party will always back our forces. We’ll always ensure that those who defend our country have their voices heard at the highest level.”
John Healey added, “The first duty of any Government is to keep the nation safe and protect its citizens. Our new independent Armed Forces Commissioner will have the powers to investigate and report on things which affect the everyday lives of those who serve – such as substandard housing, faulty kit or poor support ahead of discharge. We will look after our forces, just as they look after us.”
The Labour Party also highlighted the significant representation of ex-military personnel among their parliamentary candidates.
Fourteen ex-military personnel have been selected to stand for the party, including former Parachute Regiment soldier Bayo Alaba and British Army veterans Louise Jones and Mike Tapp.
Armed Forces Day, established by the last Labour government, remains a time to celebrate the contributions of Armed Forces personnel, veterans, and their supporters. Labour’s proposed measures aim to renew the moral contract with those who serve and ensure their needs are met effectively.
How will the ex-service men/women who live on the streets with mental health issue’s, lack of support and kindness fair under a new Labour govenment ? Will they be swept under the carpet ! so to speak, as the new commisioner focuses on those currently serving who have issues.. case of wait and see. V.F.P. is an organisation that could do with extra support from the commisioner, based on personal experiance they are very good at what they do for ex-service personnel as is SSAFA ect Lets hope Labour do right by us all if they succeed, a repeat of… Read more »
Haven’t labour pledge to revoke the bill that prevent service men being prosecuted? Not going to do much for mental healthwhen you’ve served your country only for you’re country then stick you infront of a judge.
I question that bill to be fair. There needs to be some protection, but if soldiers break uk law or international law they should be prosecuted. Clearly not if that is the order they receive, but then the person giving the order should and if that’s a MP then so be it.
The key is making sure investigations are fair and avoiding witch hunts that the media start. The later part is the issue.
But there’s another factor to the troubles the other side was granted amnesty many suspects investigation were dropped.
We also need to be very careful applying civilian law to soldiers who are deployed and under fire and need to.make split second decisions which will look very different in tranquility of a UK court room.
For sure, hence the comment that there needs to be a degree of protection in place but complete immunity sets the wrong image globally.
It’s not a great law to be honest..it has some pretty nasty consequences . It’s quite possible that you could see a mass murdering scumbag literarily get away with a profoundly horrible crime. Take it from me there are some profoundly evil people who get into positions of power and authority..any law which gives them immunity is a very very bad law.
first and only principle we needed to uphold..no one is above the law ever…and governments and executive agencies don’t need a lot of excuses to hide even mass murders from the public.
That’s a bit extreme, but even if it’s a bad law labour doesn’t want to revise it or replace it. So they’re very happy to leave veterans exposed to decisions thy made in conditions on the battlefield that will look very different in the tranquil court room. And also endorse the ambulance chaser lawyer mentality that provoke a lot of these cases against veterans. Lastly hardly a great advertisement join up and do time because UK government won’t have your back. From my perspective, who won’t be backing tory or labour on Thursday it’s a poor show, those with tinted… Read more »
Unfortunately expat in my time I have been involved in the investigation of some profoundly horrible and bad things done by people in positions of trust, I know it happens and I know people hide some profoundly horrible actions behind trust, power and authority.I also know how very bad our executive agencies are at investigating and managing this in their own people ( I’m afraid there are people who want to kill or hurt other people..if there are drs and nurse who want to commit mass murder and hide in plain sight , I assure you there are people in… Read more »
Having a commisioner is a start, they just need to appoint the right person. Someone who is actually passionate about the subject and not just there for the title and/or cash. Oh and not a retired admiral/general etc.
Morning Andy, I hope so mate. I’m not sure though.
It just seems like yet another layer of beaurocracy to me. The more layers you have, the less gets done and what does eventually get sorted, happens a lot slower.
Have the Police and Crime Commissioners made any difference??
Hi John, hope you’re well. I don’t know how effective the Police commissioners are but the Forces have been crying out for something like this for years. There was a big push for it about 15 to 20 years ago but there was huge push back by command. I generally agree with you about more levels of bureaucracy but I see this a standalone organisation where people with problems could go if the divisional system isn’t working for them. A second set of eyes that could also collate similar complaints circumventing the bureaucracy. Years ago I was involved in an… Read more »
All ok here, specifically by the pool in Kethalonia with easy accessto frosted glasses of beer, I totally defer to your better judgement mate, 180 degree turn here!
I hadn’t viewed though that lens, totally agree.
I’m jealous John, that sounds braw. Enjoy the rest of your holiday mate. 🍻
I can’t see any new Forces Commissioner having any teeth unfortunately, my instinct is it will be a waste of time, at least in the short term but a boy can dream.
The word oh dear springs to mind 🤔
Until they get into power and then the excuses will begin……
Its the last government fault is the standard go to. Tories did it in 2010 so its a a well established play.
Oh absolutely there’s no such thing as honest politicians
There’s the Honest Politician pub in Elm Grove Portsmouth……
More Labour Party propaganda from their number 1 supporter in Scotland. There is no commitment in Labour’s manifesto to increase defence spending in the next five years and only a very vague promise there after. This commisioner would be a toothless wonder becuse the top brass, politicians and especially the Treasury have the real say on procurement policy, so any investigation would meet a brick wall because the decisions will have already been put into practice. A fleeting, minor criticism would be all that would happen, no doubt very similar to when the Defence Select Commitee shouts in the national… Read more »
I don’t see the new Commissioner spending much time on procurement issues.
I was thinking more about how procurement policies can impact the working conditions of our Armed Forces.
I am not seeeing that linkage. Could you give some scenarios/examples?
As detailed in paragraph six, sub-standard housing , poor pay, working conditions, poor kit etc.
Procurement is about buying military equipment (materiel) – that is a different topic to improving housing, pay, working conditions.
OK to ‘poor kit’ as an example as kit is what is procured by procurement staff.
The ‘changed’ Labour party? So its the changed, old, new, old Labour party. Except everyone is the same, minus Jeremy.
All we can do is compare the last labour government with the current conservative government. Labour spent more on the military as a percentage of gdp. Will they again who knows but we know the Conservatives won’t as they have had plenty of years in power to do so and all they have done is cut the %.
I agree Steve. The cuts many of us have bemoaned (and rightly so) over the last 15 years were under the Conservatives, not Labour.
Knowing Labour no doubt their idea of a strong armed forces would be to recruit an extra 30,000 diversity managers and a huge investment in rainbow flags.
That seems to be a top priority in all of our public services.
Ignore the fact that everything you just complained about has been happening under a conservative government for the last 14 years, and what you said almost makes sense.
Everything I dislike about the Conservatives I believe Labour will do even more of, including the application of woke ideology.
of course -it’s in Labour’s strategic interests= more “immigration” coupled to social benefits , in order to prop up their electoral support
Having lived through 6 years of Jacinda Ardern here in NZ, I can tell you the UK is in for a rough 5 years!
Pretty much this.
And why not recruit 30,000 diversity managers?
Stick them on the tanks; they’ll make pretty good meat-shields!
More bureaucracy, a new organisation requiring documents reports meetings and press reports. Another level of oversight outside the military command structure. All it will achieve is to tie up the existing organisations but it sounds good and sidesteps the real Defence issue which Labour are avoiding that of underfunding and overstretch. Clearly Labour do not see Defence of the Nation as their No1 priority
In a nut shell Alabama Boy, what you are saying is ‘Extremely Sticky Red Tape With Political Excuses Attached’ about sums up Govenment in all its forms🤫
Simple for Starmer really….. I pledge to match Conservetive plans to move to 2.5 per cent sarting next year. Not, according to Labours policy document ” We will open a pathway to see that if it is needed the defence budget can be increased to 2.5 per cent by 2030 if the economy allows” 🙄
So thats their get out – we have conducted a review and conclude we don’t need it. It was obvious the moment the used the word “pathway”. So presumably if we are threatened we can tell the prospective enemy not now we have more important things to spend our treasure on, with fingers crossed DT will support us from the US or not.
Actually there are two get-outs in there, the other one being ‘if the economy allows’. Obviously the economy always allows- the issue is what the government chooses to spend money on. ‘If the economy allows’ is just another way of saying ‘if we feel like it’.
There are so many holes it’s a colander defence policy. By the time the commissar has sorted out her office and staff and carried out a diversity and inclusion audit it should be about time for defence cuts, sorry, review. 🐖
indeed – “open a pathway”, give me strength! The narrative will be as old as time. When Labour open the books, we should anticipate something akin to “things were far worse than we realised- we have had to make painful but necessary cuts.
Very true, my friend, very true. 😏
Like an investigative reporter? Hey, George. Fancy a new title?
Nothing wrong with what they proposing as long as they fund this with new funds. Otherwise its just more from the same budget which means drop in frontline capabilites. So 100% behind it but please fund it properly and increase the budget otherwise its effectively a cut.
A million to pay for a Commisioner and a small staff to collect evidence and write reports, that’s probably not worth it. We all know where the main problems lie. However, if you mean an extra billion to fix the problems found, I agree it would be worth it.
I agree. The Commissioner does not seem to have any executive powers to fix issues, just to write lovely reports about the problems, problems that we all know about already.
When push comes to shove. With very high national debt, will Labour really find extra money for the Armed Force’s to get to 2.5% over more money for the NHS or education ect. The jury is very much out. Some unions support our defence industries, but the left wing element of the Labour Party certainly do not.
Unions support jobs, so if defence companies made wind turbines for instance unions wouldn’t be bothered as long as members job as preserved with same or better conditions.
The simple answer Robert is no. Labour have never supported defence and they are not going to start now. They’ll just give the commissioner with her fifty staff three years to come up with a plan. Normally we wouldn’t be worrying about the Tories but The Con/Lib pact of 2010 bu..ered everything up.
Spot on.
Didn’t Starmer preside over the investigations come witch hunts into personnel who discharged weapons in Northern Ireland?
Oh the irony.
Having the authority to ‘investigate and report on’ problems is of course, not the same as being able to insist that anything be done about them.
I find it amusing how, just as the right and euro scepticism is rising across Europe, such as France, and elsewhere in the elections, the UK is going left.
We are completely out of kilter with our allies – they are mostly becoming more right wing, and we are about to elect a left wing government with a super-majority. How is Starmer going to place himself between Trump and Le Pen? He’s said some pretty hostile things about them both. We are going to be somewhat isolated.
Hi Daniele. I thought much the same. 5 years for the Tories to re invent themselves and then perhaps a return to government. The 2025 defence review is likely to be ugly. At best, we can hope for little trimming on current numbers. I see no chance of of expansion. Goodbye type 32 frigate, we’ll be lucky to hit the 19 frigate/destroyer number. Some bad predictions from me re the Royal Navy: 1x Astute laid up, the argument will be one is always in refit, no need to keep the crew. Goodbye RFA Argus, and the two tides- no replacements.… Read more »
Let’s see, there is always hope!
‘Stronger support for the armed forces’. Not the same as, but much easier to achieve (and cheaper) than to deliver ‘stronger armed forces’.
There will be no more money but there might be some adjustment in how it is spent. You can renovate a lot of properties for the price of a Boxer. Just saying.
A little food for thought, its good to know life is not all about WAR ! Sometimes you’re unsatisfied with your life, while many people in the world are dreaming of living your life…A child on a farm sees a plane flying overhead & dreams of flying. But, a pilot on the plane sees the farmhouse & dreams of returning home. That’s life ! Enjoy yours…if wealth is the secret of happiness,then the rich should be dancing on the streets,but only poor kids do that. If power ensures security,then officials should walk unguarded. But those who live simply,sleep soundly. If… Read more »
So do the Tories & we’ve seen the reality of tinier forces across the board.
Talking the talk is cheap. Practically worthless until firm funding underwrites it, whoever gets in.