7. Welsh Conservative Debate: The Armed Forces

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:39 pm on 16 March 2022.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 4:39, 16 March 2022

Thank you, Presiding Officer for the time being. Can I just thank the Minister for her generous response to the debate and to all those who've contributed so eloquently to this discussion? I'm very pleased to hear that the Minister will be considering our proposal. I hope that by that she means that the Government will be supporting our motion. I think it is to our credit as an institution in this Senedd and here in Wales that we've worked together on a cross-party basis over many years to try to support the lot of our veterans here in Wales, and we must never forget some of the statistics that have been bandied about, which is that Wales makes a much bigger contribution to the armed forces than any of the other constituent parts of the United Kingdom. I think that's why they are the best in the world, frankly, because there are many Welsh men and women who serve so excellently in them.

I also want to congratulate Colonel James Phillips on his appointment. I think he's an excellent choice as our very first Veterans' Commissioner for Wales. This is something that we've campaigned for on the Conservative benches, not just since 2014, but actually 2011—it was in our manifesto back in 2011 for the then Assembly elections. And we've been persistently shaking the tree, and I'm really pleased now that the UK Government, working with the Welsh Government, has identified this fine candidate to fulfil the role. I think his recent experience will no doubt be invaluable in ensuring that the needs of veterans are represented very, very well indeed.

And we can see the sort of impact that our veterans have even here in the Senedd, can't we? Because we've got people who have served in the armed forces who now work even within some of our teams. My colleague Joel James has a young lady called Hannah Jarvis, formerly serving in the armed forces—she was recently on the Ukrainian border, taking medical supplies there, using her experience, her knowledge of logistics, to be able to fulfil that role. I want to pay credit to her and others who are continuing to have that public service attitude that Hannah and others have. [Interruption.] Yes.