Bill Rammell MP, Minister for Armed Forces, visits the Bridgend Constituency

On Thursday 27 August 2009 the Armed Forces Minister travelled from London to Trinity Church in Porthcawl to meet with Veterans, their families and Veterans Organisations.

Madeleine Moon MP introduced the Minister to the packed Church Hall of over 60 veterans stating that he had strong links with South Wales from his time at Cardiff University.

Bill Rammell MP began the meeting by thanking all the veterans for their sacrifices, hard work and commitment to our country. Commentating that there are 4.5 million vets in Britain and that 1 in 6 of the population was a veteran.

He stated that the Government want to do more for veterans and respond positively to their service and commitment. A command paper was currently examining the needs encountered by the transition from the Services, to offer support and recognition for veterans. There was cross government effort to improve access for veterans to health, jobs and public sector housing and with free access to further education. He talked about the success of Armed Forces Day and that next year the centre for events would be Cardiff.

The Minister also stated that compensation payouts have been increased for those injured in armed conflict to £570,000 and that the issue of mental health when leaving the military would be prioritised and that St Thomas's Hospital in London would offer assessment to any ex-servicemen, since 1982, which were affected. The Minister stressed the need to value our veteran's contribution.

On Afghanistan he stated that the last few months had been very challenging and British Troops have taken a heavy toll, and that we are enormously in debt to our armed forces for their courage and conviction. He said that, ‘People are always asking why we are there and what it is about. We must remember back to 2001 when the Taliban were in control and terrorists were being trained in Afghanistan.' The Minster reminded the audience that we were fighting those who opposed our values and that the Taliban and Al Qaeda have attacked military and civilian targets, including executing teacher's who taught girls in their schools.

The Minister finished his speech by saying that he had visited Afghanistan three weeks ago, his 4th visit to the country. He was very impressed by our servicemen, their conviction and purpose clearly understood and that they know it is not just about this country fighting- there are 42 nations involved in this war. Warfare is challenging and we are there for the safety of this country. He stated he has enormous pride in the courage and commitment of our service personnel.

For the following hour a variety of questions were taken from the floor around military equipment, the amount of helicopters deployed in Afghanistan and health and compensation issues.

Madeline Moon MP for Bridgend said:

‘I am grateful that the Minister found time in his busy schedule to come to Bridgend to talk to our veterans. Since joining the Defence Select Committee I have talked to Bill many times and always found him open and frank about the difficulties we are facing and the solutions being implemented.'

The raffle proceeds were donated to the ‘Help for Heroes' campaign.