I would like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for tabling today this important debate. It is a pleasure to be part of the cross-party group on the armed forces, and I would like to thank Darren Millar for the commitment he shows in his leadership. I also want to pay tribute to Carl Sargeant, who worked tirelessly in this area and achieved much.

On Sunday, we will gather at war memorials across the country to mark Armistice Day, the day the guns fell silent during the war to end all wars. One hundred years ago on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the bloodshed ended five years of conflict that saw millions of lives lost in the so-called 'great war'. But, unfortunately, it was not the war to end all wars and in the 100 years that have followed, the world has seen innumerable conflicts and no end of bloodshed. It is a sad fact that sometimes war is unavoidable. We have to take a stand against despotic regimes and dictators hellbent on butchering even their own people.

There are currently 60 ongoing armed conflicts around the globe and, because of this, we are seeing increasingly emboldened Russia determined to return its borders back to its Soviet-era lines. Because of this, we need our armed forces more than ever. We need those young men and women in uniform who are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, to lay down their lives in defence of our freedoms. In order to honour those who made that sacrifice and to thank all those who are, and were, prepared to make that sacrifice, we will gather on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month and we will remember them.

But we, as elected Members, have a duty to do so much more than honouring our dead heroes. We have to ensure our living heroes are well cared for. Far too many ex-service personnel are being let down by the state, far too many are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and far too many are in prison because they were not helped to adapt to civilian life, and far too many are sleeping rough because they don't have adequate housing. Men and women who fought for us, who are prepared to die for us, simply abandoned.

The armed forces covenant is supposed to ensure that this doesn't happen, which is why I welcome the Welsh Government's appointment of armed forces liaison officers across Wales. I, like the Conservatives, want to ensure that the covenant is upheld, but I don't know if an armed forces commissioner is the right way. I also believe the covenant does not go far enough and will be supporting Neil McEvoy's amendment calling for an Act to guarantee quality housing and healthcare to veterans who have seen active service. How can we allow someone who risked their life for us in defence of our nation and freedoms to sleep in a rubbish bin behind some shops or to relive over and over the horrors and trauma of the front line? They should be given the best available treatment and housing as a very small measure of recompense for the enormous debt we owe them.

It was an honour a few weeks ago in Port Talbot: our local mayor honoured the armed forces covenant, and it was also wonderful to stand side by side with Blesma, the charity for limbless war veterans, and collect and see the generosity of the people of Port Talbot as the bucket got heavier and heavier. What better way to mark Remembrance Sunday and the hundredth anniversary of the end of the great war than to commit to introduce legislation to improve the lives of our veterans? I urge Members to support the motion and the two amendments. Thank you.