Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Johnny Mercer and Lisa Cameron

Monday 21st September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Johnny Mercer]

I am delighted to update my hon. Friend. Six months ago we signed a £25 million contract to digitise all the services that Veterans UK provides. I am clear that too many of our people have a poor experience, and the people in Veterans UK have to work in very difficult conditions with lots of paper records and so on. We are putting a lot of money into digitising that, and the experience will be replicated in an application that people can download to their smartphones, and vets care will be in the hands of every veteran in the United Kingdom.

[Dr Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) (SNP)]

  I must first declare an interest, as my husband is a veteran and South Lanarkshire Council’s veterans champion. The council has been doing fantastic work and has now agreed cross-party to implement a guaranteed interview scheme for veterans, as many find it very difficult to gain employment after leaving the forces. Is that positive development something that the Veterans Minister could take forward with local authorities—indeed, all levels of government across the UK, including potentially this House—to ensure that there is a guaranteed interview scheme for veterans?

[Johnny Mercer]

I thank the hon. Lady for her continued work on this issue. I am clear that getting veterans into employment is the single biggest factor that improves their life chances when they leave. We now have a system that is light years away from where it used to be. We can always do more. We are bringing in another manifesto pledge to ensure that there is a guaranteed interview scheme for veterans in the civil service, and I am always open to ideas to expand that where we can.

UK Special Forces: Iraq and Afghanistan

Debate between Johnny Mercer and Lisa Cameron

Tuesday 7th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Johnny Mercer]

What I will say to the hon. Gentleman is that, in my view, no option is off the table in reflecting, with respect to the past 15 years, on how we never end up in this position again. Resource in this investigation has not been a determining factor: over £50 million has gone into investigating these crimes—or alleged crimes—in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, this is not going to be some sort of paper exercise. It is a defining issue for many of us, and we will of course do this properly. I hope he will have seen from my comments this evening that there is absolutely no intention to cover anything up, to let anybody who sees uniform as a place where they can commit crimes to do so or to enable any of that behaviour, which is totally out of kilter with 99% of people’s experiences in the military. However, I am equally firm that the experience of too many of those who have served this nation in operations in subsequent years has been totally unacceptable, and in that respect this Prime Minister and this Government are going to redefine the debate.

[Dr Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) (SNP)]

The Minister is making an excellent point. I declare an interest in that my husband is a veteran himself—from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. For those who have been subject to investigation after investigation, are we providing enough psychological support and support in terms of their mental health? No matter the circumstances, one cannot help thinking that this must be a very stressful situation for them and their families, and as much as possible must be done.