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The Prosser Perspective.... a weekly column from Dover and Deal MP Gwyn Prosser

15 November 2007

I’ve been pleased to take part in our Remembrance Day Services in Dover and Deal for the past twenty years – ever since I was first elected to the District Council in 1987 and for the last ten years, as the MP, I’ve mostly been able to stagger my attendances between Dover for their morning service at the Town Hall and Deal for their afternoon ceremony at the Victoria Hospital.

This year, Deal abandoned its tradition of having separate services and I attended their single combined Hospital ceremony in the morning. I welcome the change but if it continues I’ll have to roster my attendances between Dover one year and Deal the next which is regrettable.

Last week I found myself in another roster when my friends from the St Margaret’s Branch of the British Legion enlisted me to do join their Poppy Appeal Collection in Tesco’s. They’re a great bunch of people, they’ve got dozens of stories to tell and they all seem to share the same wicked sense of humour but there was a serious side to our meeting.

They lobbied me on the Legion’s ‘Honour the Covenant’ project and I was able to confirm that I supported their campaign and tell them that I’d already made written representations to the Minister.

The Covenant campaign seeks to address areas of concern for servicemen such as health, compensation, recognition and support for families. This week I’ve received a reply from the Minister for Defence which stretches to an incredible 13 pages.

The Minister acknowledges the huge debt of gratitude that we all owe to our Armed Services and our Veterans and accepts there’s more to do but points out some of the areas where redress is being made. Their last pay rise was the best in the public sector and uplifted the lowest paid private soldiers pay by over 9 percent. Then there’s the tax free Operational Allowance of £2,320 for a six month tour introduced last year and an improved operational welfare package for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He lists a lot more recently provided benefits - too many to list here - and points out that the British Legion have acknowledged these improvements and the Chief of the General Staff has gone on record to confirm that in his view the military covenant is not broken.

Another of the Legion’s concerns is the apparent lack of public recognition for those who have served with such distinction – and for those who have sacrificed so much. In my view the Ministry of Defence shares in this deficiency and that’s why I am one of the MPs who this week launched the Parliamentary ‘Honour the Brave Campaign’ which is pressing the MoD to honour those who have died or been wounded in action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We’ve tabled a motion which calls for the striking of a new medal to honour these brave men and women and I’m confident that we will achieve our goal.