Today's newsreels talk of the new wars—Afghanistan and Iraq—and our charities and Governments look to rebuild the current young lives that are wounded, and support the families that have lost in recent conflicts. I want to talk about the veterans of the forgotten wars—people like my father, because he represents the essence of the very ordinary men and women of the armed forces who have served since world war two in conflicts less remembered. Like many of his generation, an ordinary man who did some extraordinary things.

At an age younger than any Member of the Senedd ever, he was one of the few who led men into the jungles of Myanmar during the communist insurgency, and led most of them back out again. An ordinary man who worked undercover in dangerous situations that his family are only now learning of as age wins its battle. An ordinary man involved in the Falklands, and whose contemporaries saw action in forgotten wars like the Korean war, the Suez crisis, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cyprus, Dhofar, Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo, Ireland. And too many times, when they returned, it was to public hostility and an indifferent employer. Yet, the rights and wrongs of our involvement in a conflict rest with us as politicians making policy, and us as citizens who vote those politicians in, not the armed forces personnel, which is why I welcome the UK Government's introduction of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, in order to tackle the endless pursuit of armed forces personnel making life and death decisions under extraordinary pressure in hostile environments. 

I also wish to recognise and thank the many charities and organisations that support armed forces personnel, but the reality is that these charities should not be relied on as the main support mechanisms for veterans. I know that's a constant refrain heard by Government, but we should remember that ex-forces personnel have a different set of experiences from most of us. They've been part of a very singular community, in which trust, order and respect are founding blocks, the chain of command is strong, and to enter civvy street for some is a break with all they know, and it breaks them. Many become jobless, homeless and feel worthless. And that is why the Welsh Conservatives would bring 150 empty social housing properties back into use, specifically for military veterans at risk of homelessness.

Llywydd, armed forces personnel are truly extraordinary ordinary people. They serve and sacrifice and seek no reward, and I ask that Members of the Senedd recognise that and support this motion.