Royal British Legion

Brian Leishman Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth) (Lab)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for securing this debate.

The financial, social and emotional support the Royal British Legion has provided veterans for over a century has been quite remarkable. Even though I have never served in the military, the camaraderie of veterans and their shared bond of looking after each other is something that I can recognise, admire and respect. As an MP, I see the same traits in organisations and charities in my constituency. Times have been incredibly hard this last decade and a half, and rallying around each other has kept people and communities going. The Wee County Veterans of Clackmannanshire is a group that show the very best of both the veterans and the wider local community. It has been my honour to attend their meetings, to share a Christmas dinner in their company and to represent them here in Parliament.

I would like to speak on a recent decision made by the RBL to withdraw the Armed Services Advice Project. ASAP was established in 2010 and has given assistance to more than 21,500 Scottish veterans. In its 14 years, the scheme helped veterans access over £20 million-worth of benefits and compensation. For many, ASAP’s intervention alleviated poverty or stopped them descending into it.

As well as saving veterans from destitution, the services also saved lives. In collaboration with the Wee Country Veterans and RBLS Grangemouth, ASAP co-ordinators such as Ally Gemmell dealt with struggles that many veterans were wrestling with. Isolation, homelessness, adapting to civilian life, grinding penury and suicidal thoughts were commonplace in the daily conversations that Ally would have.

For RBL to axe the scheme was a mistake. ASAP, and the lifesaving individual relationships it created, have been replaced by a call centre service that will have to help veterans who are in extreme distress. RBL called it remodelling the service—but what that really meant was cuts. I would appreciate it if the Minister could engage with RBL regarding potential reinstatement of ASAP, because our veterans deserve much better than to be victims of decisions that leave them more vulnerable.

Military Co-operation with Israel

Brian Leishman Excerpts

Tuesday 18th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth) (Lab)]

It is both an honour and a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I thank the hon. Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) for securing this debate.

From the outset, let me be absolutely clear about what is happening. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been slaughtered in Gaza. Women and children account for the vast majority of the dead. Entire families have been wiped from existence. What is left for those who survive? Starvation and disease, with homes and hospitals turned to rubble and dust. They now also face renewed airstrikes.

Just last night, more than 400 Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombings. That is not defence; it is the annihilation and the attempted eradication of a people. We, the United Kingdom, have obligations under the genocide convention, international law and the most basic principles of being human. We say we are committed to upholding international law, but what does our country actually do? The Government have approved more arms export licenses to Israel than they have suspended, they continue to use RAF Akrotiri to assist the transfer of US military cargo to Israel and carry out surveillance flights over Gaza gathering intelligence that could aid in the targeting of Palestinian civilians.

When the International Court of Justice ruled that genocide is “plausible”, the Government should have cut all military ties with Israel. Instead, it has chosen to continue arming and enabling a regime that conducts annexation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide.

[Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole) (Lab)]

Prior to last night’s devastating attack, Israel routinely broke the ceasefire agreement declared on 19 January, blocking aid and cutting off electricity and water supplies. Does my hon. Friend agree that these acts of genocide need to be recognised as such by the international courts and the UK Government?

[Brian Leishman]

I am in complete agreement; it is undeniable that these are war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide. Every weapon part that the UK supplies and every piece of intelligence that we share makes us complicit. We must immediately suspend all arms sales, cease all military co-operation and impose economic and diplomatic sanctions. Anything less is just another stain on our history and an unforgivable betrayal of the Palestinian people to whom, let us be completely honest, we already owe a historical debt.

I co-signed a letter to The Guardian newspaper from the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn). It called for an independent public inquiry into the UK’s role on what has happened and continues to happen in Gaza. Many people are of the opinion that the Government have taken decisions that breach international law. These opinions will not be changed unless there is transparency and accountability.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Remembrance and Veterans

Brian Leishman Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth) (Lab)]

It is an honour to be given an opportunity to speak this evening as we look ahead to this year’s remembrance events across the country, and as we recognise the service and courage of the exceptional men and women who helped safeguard our values and freedom. My contribution seeks to commemorate some of the local effort from my constituency.

Perhaps the biggest contribution of Alloa to the D-day landings took place at the now gone McLeod and Sons shipyard. The workers there laboured day and night to refit ships for war, including around 130 of the tank landing craft for Operation Neptune. Indeed, a message from their lordships at the Admiralty was sent to McLeod and Sons after the war, congratulating the entire workforce on their “magnificent effort during hostilities”.

Over in Grangemouth, what was planned to be the country’s largest commercial airfield became a fighter base to defend against bombing raids. Once the fear of airstrikes had subsided, it was designated as a training centre for daring young pilots to learn to fly the iconic Spitfire. More than 60 young men from all over Britain and the Commonwealth, as well as from Poland, Holland and what was then Czechoslovakia, died as student pilots, along with some 20 ground crew who also paid the ultimate price while serving there. Today, a replica Spitfire on Bo’ness Road reminds us of their sacrifice, with thanks to the members of the 1333 Grangemouth air cadet squadron for their efforts in pushing for that memorial more than a decade ago.

Veterans of our armed forces deserve not just our respect and gratitude, but our practical and meaningful help as they seek to find a place in civilian life. I commend organisations such as the Falkirk Veterans and the Wee County Veterans from Clackmannanshire. The bond among our military personnel extends well beyond service, and veterans’ groups such as those in my constituency play a phenomenal role in so many ways.

There is currently a difference in opinion between the Royal British Legion and many in the veterans community as to the consequences of cutting the Armed Services Advice Project. Personally, I feel that the veterans have legitimate concerns about the removal of ASAP: some have told me that an in-person interaction with an ASAP adviser was the difference between life and death. On the face of it, I share the same reservations as many veterans, as replacing ASAP with a call centre could be a potentially fatal reduction in service provision, and I urge the RBL to reconsider. Over the last 14 years, this country has seen what happens when austerity takes hold and vital services are sacrificed. Everyone deserves better, especially our veterans.