British Politics Thread

Johnny Mercer Conservative, Plymouth, Moor View

6:54 pm, 1st June 2015

I want to speak briefly about my two main missions in this Parliament. First, mental health provision in this country remains poor. There are some extremely dogged and determined characters who fight night and day to improve the services offered to those who struggle with mental health problems. Often, those who struggle with mental health problems cannot shout for themselves and suffer in silence because of the ridiculous stigma placed on mental health. That stigma ends in this Parliament. It is not good enough to have sympathy, empathy even, or simply to understand these issues when they affect someone close to us. It is time to get this right and I look forward to starting this crusade in Plymouth.

Secondly, the past decade and a half has defined a whole generation of us in often unseen wars against enemies of the state that only seem to grow darker. We have no complaints about the duty that we have chosen. It formed many of us; indeed, it made many of us who we are today. We were proud to defend this great nation in the same traditions of the immense sacrifices of our forefathers. However, last week my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister spoke of the gravity of the end of combat operations in Afghanistan. For many families, that marks the end of the sleepless nights by the phone and the ever-dreaded knock at the door.

I am sorry to report, however, that there remains a great stain on this nation of ours when it comes to conflict. In 2012, we reached a very unwelcome threshold when, tragically, more soldiers and veterans killed themselves than were killed on operational service in defence of the realm. It goes without saying that there are some genuine heroes in our communities and charities up and down this land who work tirelessly night and day to look after and assist those who have found returning to a peaceful life the biggest challenge of all. A great many of these veterans are not only from Afghanistan.

My key point is this: there has been a fundamental misunderstanding by Governments of all colours over the years that veterans’ care is a third sector responsibility and that the great British public, in all their wonderful generosity, support our troops well enough, and any new initiative is met with the response, “Well, there must be a charity for that.” That is fundamentally and unequivocally wrong, and I make no apologies for pointing it out to anyone of any rank or position who may be offended by my candour.

I am not a charity and neither were my men. We gave the best years of our lives in defending the privileges, traditions and freedoms that this House and all Members enjoy. It is therefore the duty of this House to look after them and, crucially, their families when they return. I would be grateful if you would grant me your patience, Mr Deputy Speaker, to bring just two of them to the attention of the House this evening.

Lance Sergeant Dan Collins of the Welsh Guards was typical of the soldiers I was privileged to command in my tours of Afghanistan. His story had a profound effect on me. I implore Members to look him up tonight before they go to bed and to read his story. He endured events that were atypical of a fighting man’s deployment in that theatre. He returned to Britain’s arms a deeply scarred man and entered a dark, dark place that too many are familiar with. Dan worked hard to try to find treatment that worked for him, but repeated changes of staff and six-hour round trips for appointments did very little indeed. He fought his demons with the same spirit and courage that he had demonstrated on a daily basis against the enemies of the state in foreign fields. When he returned home, however, unlike when he was in his battalion, we did not have his back. Dan liked to take on his demons alone in the mountains, where perhaps the outside arena made him feel more empowered. However, in 2012, during the period of new year’s celebrations—that time of year when all the world is celebrating—Dan recorded a video message for his mum on his mobile phone. He said:

“Hey Mum. Just a video, just to say I’m sorry. Ever since I came back from Hell I’ve turned into a horrible person and I don’t like who I am anymore.”

He went on to say: “I’ve tried everything, and there’s nothing that seems to be working. I love you, and I'll see you, okay? I love you.”

With that, our nation failed one of her bravest sons once more, as yet another victim of the Afghanistan war lost his life, not bleeding out in some dusty foreign field in the intense pressures of combat but in his homeland, which he had fought so hard to defend.

Next Monday, it will be five years to the day since I conducted a particular dawn patrol in southern Afghanistan with my troops. We were enduring one of the most contested fighting seasons of that campaign in 2010, and fear was rife. I was particularly blessed to have with me in my small team a man of colossal courage called Lance Bombardier Mark Chandler, who in our role was duty-bound to protect me in close-quarter combat while I continued in our primary trade. While most people in this country were still in a morning slumber, we closed in on an enemy position, and in an intense close-quarter gunfight Mark was shot in the face right next to me and died in my arms. In the five years since, I have become intimately familiar with another quiet yet very stoical group of casualties of this country’s war. Mike and Ann Chandler, Mark’s parents, like parents, wives, sisters and brothers up and down this land, now endure a daily sacrifice. It is very difficult for those of us who have not experienced it to truly grasp the bottomless well of grief that comes from losing a child, husband, brother or sister in war as a result of a grave decision made in this House. Theirs is the greatest sacrifice on the altar of this nation’s continuing freedom, and it is a price that is paid daily. For many families up and down this land, it is indeed at every going down of the sun and every morning that we remember them.

I come here unapologetically to improve the plight of veterans and their families. The last Government under this Prime Minister did more than any before it in this cause, but there is still some way to go. It is a deep privilege to come to this House with the hopes of tens of thousands of Plymothians, and I do not underestimate the duty that is incumbent upon me in the years ahead. I cannot promise anything but noble endeavour, relentless positivity and an abounding sense of duty to look after those who, through no fault of their own, find themselves on the fringes of society, and who find life an interminable struggle. I look forward to the challenge.

We were proud to defend this great nation...

Young unemployed people should be forced to repay their benefit money when they get a job, an influential group of Conservative M Ps has said.

The proposal to pay benefits as a loan would give them "an additional incentive to find work rather than allow the debt to build up".

The idea is included in a new book setting out a "radical" free market agenda for the Conservative government.

Government sources said it would represent a cutting of the system of tax credits put in place by former prime minister Gordon Brown, which they believe "papered over" poverty in the UK rather than seeking to address its "root causes".

MPs and experts close to Mr Osborne believe reducing current tax credits would see low-income households encouraged to take on more work to keep their family income up.

The idea is among many being considered as the Tories wrestle with how to deliver their pledge to cut £12bn from Britain's £220bn budget for benefits and tax credits.

There is widespread concern inside Downing Street that the cuts are impossible to do while repositioning the Conservatives as the party of working people.

During the general election, Prime Minister David Cameron promised he would not be cutting many benefits - including the state pension, pensioner benefits, and child benefit.

It means that a large amount of the £220bn welfare budget is now out of bounds.

Many are concerned that there is little way to find £12bn of welfare cuts without cutting the income received by people in work through tax credits.

On Tuesday, Mr Cameron's ex-speechwriter Clare Foges wrote that it was time for a "mea culpa" moment over the bedroom tax, warning it would remain "a fly in the 'one nation' ointment".

A government spokesperson said: "We've already achieved billions in welfare savings over the course of the last Parliament, which have helped cut the deficit in half as a share of GDP.

Before the election the Liberal Democrats leaked documents which appeared to suggest the Conservatives were considering cuts to tax credits and child benefit before the election.

Downing Street dismissed the documents at the time as “scaremongering”.

George Osborne and Iain Duncan Smith have pledged to make £12bn welfare cuts but would not expand on which cuts they would make before the election.

Officials at the DWP are likely to ministers with a list of “very, highly or extremely controversial” potential cuts to child benefits, according to documents leaked to the Guardian newspaper before the election.

People who need urgent mental health care in England are receiving inadequate support, regulators say. The Care Quality Commission reviewed the help given to people in mental health crisis, which includes people who are suicidal, having serious panic attacks or psychotic episodes. The regulator said the system was "struggling to cope".

Its report also highlighted what it described as a "lack of compassion" from A&E staff. The CQC carried out its investigation following the signing of a Crisis Care Concordat between the government and the sector last year which promised round-the-clock support to those who needed it. This includes help from dedicated mental health staff, intensive support at home or telephone advice.

But the review - based on surveys of patients, analysis of national data and inspections of services - found that 42% of patients did not get the help they needed. Patients were also asked about the attitudes of staff towards them. Staff working for charities and volunteers received the most positive ratings, while staff in A&E received the worst. Just over a third of patients who ended up in A&E thought they had been treated with compassion and warmth, and a similar proportion said their concerns had been taken seriously. The dedicated crisis-resolution teams that are there to help those in trouble did little better, with fewer than half answering positively to each question.

Police will not be investigated over one of the most violent clashes of the 1984-5 miners' strike, the Independent Police Complaints Commission has ruled. The passage of time meant allegations of assault and misconduct at Orgreave coking plant in South Yorkshire "could not be pursued", the watchdog said. About 10,000 strikers and 5,000 police were involved in what became known as the "Battle of Orgreave", in June 1984.

Campaigners said they were disappointed and have called for a public inquiry.

South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings described the decision as a missed opportunity that did "disservice" to former miners, police and Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The IPCC said its decision could be reviewed if further evidence emerged. South Yorkshire Police referred itself to the IPCC after a BBC documentary in 2013 claimed officers may have colluded in writing court statements.

IPCC deputy chair Sarah Green said: "These are events from more than 30 years ago, and I have considered the impact such a passage of time could have on an IPCC investigation and possible outcomes.

"In addition, because the miners arrested at Orgreave were acquitted or no evidence offered, there are no miscarriages of justice due to alleged police failures for the IPCC to investigate. Allegations of offences amounting to minor assaults could not be prosecuted due to the passage of time; and as many of the police officers involved in events at Orgreave are retired, no disciplinary action could be pursued."

The UK rail regulator is to investigate Network Rail, accusing the company of causing poor punctuality and reliability on some of the country's busiest commuter routes. Train services run by Southern, Thameslink and Scot Rail all missed punctuality targets, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said. Network Rail maintains the rail system.

Rail passenger journeys have risen 59.1% since 2005, while freight is up 9.1%. Passengers using Thameslink routes have had to deal with disruption caused by long-term work at London Bridge, while track and signalling failures have disrupted travellers on Southern lines. Last year, travellers passing through north London during the Christmas period suffered delays as engineering work at King's Cross and Paddington stations overran.

Network Rail pointed out that passenger numbers had more than doubled in the last 20 years since privatisation. It said the number of people travelling by train grew by 67.3 million to a record high of 1.65 billion passengers last year.