Meeting of the Parliament 04 December 2018
It is an honour and privilege to speak in today’s debate. Veterans are true heroes who often receive less support than they deserve.
We all understand the importance of veterans to our society, but it cannot be overstated. Perhaps no other choice is as difficult or noble as that of giving up the comfort of home, leaving loved ones and family behind and putting one’s life at risk for one’s country. We owe an unpayable debt to all veterans.
This year marked the centenary of the end of world war one. With that came the persistent reminder that without the sacrifice of so many of Scotland and the UK’s people, the world that we are living in today might look scarily different.
We all have connections to veterans. My grandfather was in a Highland regiment and fought in the great war. Even now, I remember hearing as a child the stories from the war that he told me. He passed on to me the 12 volumes of “The Great War”, published by the Amalgamated Press, which I will treasure always. In addition, my father was an engineer artificer for the Royal Air Force in world war two and he would always talk to me about the various planes that he worked on.
Colleagues, my point is not to state that my family was affected by war, but to say that every family has been affected by war. Every family can trace a relative who joined the Army, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy or another armed service. We all know the effects that the sacrifice of leaving a family behind has on many veterans, but perhaps we never imagined that the sacrifice would continue when they returned home. We have repaid the commendable act of fighting for one’s country with a cold welcome home that emphasises a host of difficulties that revolve around inaccessible housing, limited employment options, and sometimes sub-par health and social care.
Veterans continue to be an underappreciated group in our society, who are often in need of serious social, mental and physical help. Sometimes, our services are not robust enough and veterans fall through the cracks. To me, that is simply inexcusable.
When I was a councillor, I encouraged my council to take note of the time that service personnel had spent in the armed forces. That time would count as time served on the council housing waiting list. Therefore, service personnel would automatically be rehoused if they had previously lived in the local authority. As other members have stated, that approach has been replaced by a points system. I hope that the points system works as the previous system did for years. I encourage all councils to introduce that policy. If people have gone and fought for their country, we should at least ensure that they have a place to live when they return, and that the house that they live in is suitable for their needs.
The strategy for our veterans gives us a chance within the UK to provide care that would become world renowned. Our goals are lofty, but they are reachable. The progress of the strategy will be monitored to make sure that we are making good on our promises. If we can successfully reach each objective, veterans’ lives will be significantly improved and, as a nation, we can in a small way express our gratitude to those who have done more for us than we have ever done for them.
I pay tribute to the projects that are being undertaken by Age Scotland. I suggest that the Scottish Government consider ways to support the many charities that are able to reach out and assist veterans.