Veterans need more than just warm words, says their minister

VETERANS need more than warm words and rhetoric, a minister has said, as he admits services for former Armed Forces staff still require work.

Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister, makes the comments as he reflects on the first anniversary of the Government’s launch of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs.

Writing on telegraph.co.uk today, he says that while the Government has done much to change what were once “disjointed, hard to access” services for former military personnel, “there is of course more to do”.

Mr Mercer, a former soldier and Afghan war veteran, writes: “Established just a few days after the Prime Minister came to office one year ago, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs has already overseen a significant shift in the Government’s provision for veterans.

“From railcards to guaranteed interviews in the Civil Service; from a National Insurance holiday for employers of veterans to including a question for veterans in the 2021 census for the first time, much has been achieved.”

The launch of the office was the first time there had been a joint Cabinet Office and Ministry of Defence role which ministers said would enable the MOD to work better with government machinery to ensure “world-class” care for military veterans.

But Mr Mercer concedes that while he hopes to find “real strategic change for our veterans” over the next few years, “it is not a one-office or a oneperson job”. He adds: “We all, as a nation, have a responsibility to go beyond warm words and soaring rhetoric when it comes to our veterans.”