As we celebrate Armed Forces Day, Chair of Lewisham East Conservative Association says thank you to the 21,000 people working in our Armed Forces and crucial defence jobs in London.
This is the eleventh Armed Forces Day, and it presents an opportunity to say thank you to our servicemen and women here and around the world. It is a chance to recognise the great sacrifice they have made for their country – often spending long periods of time away from home.
Here in, London there are 21,000 men and women working keep our country safe, upholding our nation’s security and prosperity.
The Conservatives remain committed to meeting the NATO target to spend two per cent of GDP on defence, upholding our position as a global world leader.
Commenting, Helena said:
“Armed Forces Day is an opportunity for us to say thank you to both the 21,000 men and women in London and their families, for their work to keep our country safe from increasing threats around the world.
“Unlike Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, the Conservatives will always prioritise defence; we truly recognise the sacrifice our brave Armed Forces have made for our country and want Britain to remain a global leader in defence”.
“It is an opportunity for us to express our gratitude to those who are in the regular service, the reserves, the cadets and those who served in uniform, our brave veterans.”
For more information please contact Lewisham Conservatives, 77 Dartmouth Road, Forest Hill, SE23 3HT.
Email: [email protected]
Notes to Editors
- Increasing the defence budget by £1.8 billion – so that our armed forces have the right capabilities to keep us all safe. This builds on our growing defence budget which will rise to almost £40 billion by 2020-21 (HMT, Autumn Budget 2018, 29 October 2018, link).
- Held a series of major commemorations to mark D-Day75 and the sacrifice made by our armed forces. We delivered a programme of commemorations for veterans and their families to mark the anniversary (MOD, D-Day75, accessed 25 June 2019, link).
- Protecting military personnel from Scottish tax hikes with £4 million extra cash. Over 7,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen and women who were adversely affected by the Scottish Government’s tax hikes last year will receive extra remuneration in their pay slip at the end of this month. The payments total £4.1million with an average payment of £580 (MOD, News Story, 17 June 2019, link).
- Enshrined the Armed Forces Covenant into law to highlight the importance we place on supporting our Armed Forces. Thousands of businesses and organisations have signed up to the Covenant – but we are going further to ensure that universities do the same so veterans and their families meet no barriers when accessing education (MOD, 18 April 2019, link).
- Introducing a new package of support for seriously wounded armed forces personnel to deliver the care they need. Working alongside NHS England and military charities, the package provides a framework for effectively planning and delivering personalised care in line with the health commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant (MOD, 29 March 2019, link).
- Awarding new ID cards to all veterans to mark their time in the armed forces. A new ID card for armed forces veterans will allow veterans to easily verify their service to the NHS, their local authority, and charities, helping them to access support and services where needed (MOD, 18 February 2019, link).
- Jeremy Corbyn thinks Britain doesn’t need an army. ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every politician around the world instead of taking pride in the size of their armed forces did what the people of Costa Rica have done and abolished their army and took pride in the fact the fact they don’t have an army’ (Hiroshima Remembrance, 6 August 2012, link).
- Jeremy Corbyn would cut defence spending. ‘I would like us to live in a world where we spend a lot less on defence, and that we would hope to be able to reduce it in the long-term. I recognise that there are defence needs, and there needs to be a level of spending, but I would hope in the long-run to reduce it’ (Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leadership hustings Gateshead, 11 August 2016).
