Tories and Labour must commit to the Help For Heroes Veterans’ Pledge
A nation’s debt
THE staggering courage of our D-Day heroes as they began the Nazis’ final defeat 80 years ago tomorrow is a vivid reminder of the debt we owe our veterans.
Thousands of young lads poured on to the Normandy beaches under a hail of shellfire and bullets. Many were killed.
You can read about them on Pages 26 and 27. As one survivor says, it is vital Brits never forget the “price of freedom” from tyrants like Hitler.
But nor must we neglect veterans of all our conflicts — including the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.
That’s why today we urge both the Tories and Labour — whichever should hold power after July 4 — to commit to the Help For Heroes Veterans’ Pledge.
To keep a Cabinet-level minister protecting Veterans Affairs. To launch a review into the chaos over medical discharges. To ensure all veterans get every penny of the support they deserve.
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Labour has talked a good game on security, even promising a new Armed Forces Commissioner to look after Forces families. But there is a worrying new chink in the Starmer armour: An extraordinary vow to relaunch probes into Our Boys’ actions during the Troubles 50 years ago, even after the Tories shut them down in law.
Starmer complains it means IRA terrorists now have an amnesty too.
Except in reality our veterans were virtually alone in being prosecuted.
So he would once again have 70-year-old ex-squaddies living out their twilight years in fear of snap judgments they made as teenage rookies in the white heat of 1970s Northern Ireland.
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Honour our veterans, Keir, by not reopening old wounds.
Left it late
THE time to seek reform of the ECHR, or vow to leave it, is during your decade or more in power.
Not while preparing for a fifth election the polls predict you are likely to lose.
The case for quitting this meddling Strasbourg court has been overwhelming for years. It is as crystal clear now as the politicisation and over-reach of its judges, especially on immigration.
But even if Rishi Sunak stayed in No10, could he ever get such a radical move past an already divided Tory Party?
It’s hard to see it.
Last straw
GORMLESS yobs who chuck milkshakes over politicians must face a hefty fine and a night in the cells.
We are sick of self-righteous morons making a “statement” by assaulting MPs or candidates they dislike. It doesn’t matter if it’s Farage, Sunak or Starmer. It’s an obnoxious attack both on the politician and democracy in an era which has seen two MPs murdered.
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Cops made arrests yesterday. Good.
Time to end this brainless fad.