Armed Forces Bill

Scott Arthur Excerpts

Committee of the whole House
Tuesday 2nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

It was a pleasure to serve on the Select Committee, and I thank the Clerks and all those who made it run so smoothly.

Today I will focus on one area.

“I certainly think it is bizarre that there is not an English commissioner. That is 85% of the veteran population, while the other 15% have three commissioners to represent them. I would certainly support that.”

Those are not my words, but those of retired Lieutenant Commander Susie Hamilton, the Veterans Commissioner for Scotland, in response to a question from the Minister for the Armed Forces on the Select Committee earlier this year, regarding whether there should be a veterans commissioner for England. The view shared by all three commissioners for Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland is that the circa 1.4 million veterans who live in England lack their own veterans commissioner. They believe it is vital that we have parity and consistency across the nations, and an independent statutory advocate for veterans in England, so today I once again call for a national veterans commissioner for England, as proposed in new clause 3.

[Dr Scott Arthur (Edinburgh South West) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way, and apologise for interrupting her flow. The point about consistency across the UK is important, and I support the creation of a veterans commissioner for England. In Scotland, the role is particularly important, because the Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans in the Scottish Government is not a veteran, but a career politician. I think he moved from working for the party to working for an MSP, so that is the difference. The commissioner is a really important role in Scotland, as it bridges that gap. Will the hon. Lady join me in encouraging the SNP Government to create a veterans Minister who is himself or herself a veteran?

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Arthur]

You will be pleased to hear, Chair, that I will be relatively short. I am proud to welcome this Armed Forces Bill. It represents a vital step towards renewing our contract with those who keep us safe. As an MP with Redford barracks, Dreghorn barracks and RAF Kirknewton in my constituency, this Bill is of immense pride to me, but it is also of urgent necessity.

I will focus on new clauses 3 and 5, but I start by welcoming the increased investment that underpins this renewal. Our new £9 billion defence housing strategy will be the biggest renewal of military accommodation in half a century and our forces families will benefit. I can see that already in Edinburgh South West. For too long, the state of service accommodation, as we have heard already, has been a source of deep frustration, but now it is slowly becoming a source of envy in my constituency as people watch these homes being upgraded. I am happy that this landmark strategy will significantly improve the state of service housing up and down the country. I have to thank the Minister for the Armed Forces for stepping in. The MOD was about to sell surplus homes in my constituency on the open market, but he stepped in to make sure that they were instead transferred to the council. Those ex-Army homes are now council homes, which is a fantastic outcome.

New clause 3 relates to support for veterans. The Royal British Legion has rightly highlighted the outstanding vacancy for a veterans commissioner for England, which was advertised just a few days before the last general election. That is something we have to question. In Scotland, we have long seen the clear impact of our veterans commissioner, which I spoke about earlier, and it is only right that England has one too. I urge the Government to think about the issue seriously, but two points have to be considered. First, we have to look at the existing Veterans Commissioners to understand what is working and what is not, and to build on best practice. Secondly, Operation Valour is being rolled out at pace and at scale, so we have to get the interaction right between the Veterans Commissioner and Op Valour. We want action in this area, but we also have to show a little caution to make sure that we get it right first time.

Through new clause 5, we have an opportunity to tear down some of the unfair barriers facing non-UK armed forces personnel. I welcome the intent behind the new clause, which seeks to amend the Immigration Act 2014 to waive the fee for indefinite leave to remain applications from spouses and children of current or former service personnel. A constituent recently raised with me the painful administrative hurdles affecting Commonwealth soldiers, veterans and their families who now call Edinburgh, Scotland and the wider UK their home. I met him at a fantastic open evening at the All Nations Christian Fellowship church on Oxgangs Avenue that culminated with some excellent food. He said that Edinburgh was his home now and he told me how proud he was to serve in 3 Rifles. I have never met anybody prouder to serve in our armed forces, despite the fact that he was not born in the UK. He also told me how he had lost some of his friends in Afghanistan. He is an amazing man in all sorts of ways, but I was ashamed to hear that he is expected to pay visa fees for his family to settle in the UK. He has left the forces now and is a proud veteran, but he is on a modest income. The fees he faces are incredible for him. He was not just advocating for himself—he is not a selfish person—but for others in his network too.

It is right that the Government take this issue seriously. If someone is prepared to lay down their life for this country, their family should not face a financial penalty to live in it. We must give these brave individuals a fair and dignified pathway to settlement. I accept that is best led by the Home Office, but this debate has shown that Members from across the House, and certainly those in the Chamber, want to see action—I do not think anybody opposes that. We have to remember that, and we have to demand action. I am hopeful that this Bill will finally deliver the settlement that our military deserves. The promise is there, but we must ensure that it is matched by our delivery of housing, recruitment and fairness.

I want to make three final points. The journey of this Bill will not be completed today; there will be other opportunities to amend it, and I hope that we will find space for the intent behind new clauses 3 and 5.

There is no bigger supporter of devolution than me, but there is nothing worse than being on the wrong side of the border when it comes to accessing services. Military families who move between England and Scotland really feel the difference in childcare. It has different impacts, depending on the children’s age. If someone’s spouse happens to be a teacher, moving from Scotland to England, and vice versa, can be a huge hurdle. As we think about amending this Bill to make lives better for our armed forces personnel, the House should think carefully about families who move between England and the devolved nations, and make sure that we have a safety net in place so that they are never disadvantaged through serving our country.

The last time I mentioned RAF Kirknewton, I made the point that it is the home of 661 Volunteer Gliding Squadron—the net zero fleet of the air force. It flies a fleet of four Grob Viking T1 gliders, and provides excellent experience for the Royal Air Force air cadets. What I did not say is that RAF Kirknewton is also the home of a meticulously recreated world war one Sopwith 1½ Strutter aircraft, which has been built by the Aviation Preservation Society of Scotland. I mention that because the big military installations in my constituency—Redford and Dreghorn barracks, and the airbase—have fences around them, but that does not mean that they are not well connected with the community.

When I am out in Colinton, I meet serving armed forces people at the bus stop, at the school gates and in Colinton Mains Tesco. I do worry about the diet of some of our younger servicemen, but that is perhaps a debate for another day. When Colinton primary school closed due to snow a few years ago, it was the Army that came down and cleared it. Perhaps the parents were desperate to get their kids back to school—we have all been there! When there was a barbeque at the school a couple of years ago, it was the Army that provided it. Service personnel brought with them the rarest piece of military equipment that I have ever seen deployed: the Army’s bouncy castle, which was fully camouflaged. I have no idea what the Army does with it the rest of the year—perhaps there is a written question there somewhere.

In my constituency, particularly around Colinton, the armed forces are fully integrated. This is something that I and local people cherish, and I really hope that this Bill and the covenant are about creating, maintaining and sustaining that kind of culture; all of us here have a duty to maintain that.

[Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)]

I thank everybody involved in bringing the Bill to this point today, particularly Ministers and members of the Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill. It has been a serious amount of work, because this is not a typical Armed Forces Bill through which we are performing our constitutional duty in this House to renew our armed forces; it goes much further than that. It pushes forward our armed forces covenant and makes it real across the country, it finally gives our armed forces the housing and justice that they deserve, and it gives our reserves a true role to play in the defence our nation. That is why we have to pass the Bill. Some really important amendments have been tabled, and I particularly want to cover Government amendment 9 on the armed forces covenant, and Government amendments 48, 51 and 54, which relate to the new defence housing service.

First, the armed forces covenant goes to the heart of this country’s commitment to our armed forces. We have talked about it so much for so many years, but in reality is it justly applied across the country? This Bill goes to the heart of that question, and tries to put the covenant into practice. When we talk about our armed forces, we are talking about a community of those who have served of 4.5 million people, including 2 million veterans who are alive today. Yet for many of them, support has depended less on the principles, and more on a postcode lottery. For too long, the covenant has been the right idea, but too often the wrong experience on the ground.

We have had the principle of no disadvantage, yet delivery has been uneven and inconsistent. Let us take my county of Hertfordshire as an example. It has 11 councils, including four in my constituency. I can tell hon. Members from my own experience that the way those councils apply the covenant varies tremendously. Amendment 9 is so important because it applies the covenant to the new combined authorities, which we will soon have in my county. By expanding that legal duty, we are recognising the simple truth that the decisions that shape people’s lives—in housing, planning, local services—are not all taken in one place, and if the covenant is going to work, it has to exist everywhere that those decisions are made.