Armed Forces Day

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Thursday 26th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)]

Given the topic, I am genuinely honoured to open this debate on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition on the subject of Armed Forces Day. I had the honour to be present in New Palace Yard on Monday to watch members of the armed forces raise the armed forces flag in Parliament, in a ceremony presided over by Mr Speaker and his Chaplain, the Rev. Canon Mark Birch MVO. It was a joyous occasion, and I am pleased to say it was very well attended by many MPs.

My opposite number, the Armed Forces Minister, is the proud son of a submariner, and I am the equally proud son of Stoker First Class Reginald Francois, who served on the minesweeper HMS Bressay on D-day. We are both naval brats, as he put it—at least after a fashion.

It is now established that Armed Forces Day is held on the last Saturday of June. This Saturday there will be many ceremonies across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, including in my county of Essex, and I hope to attend the celebration in Basildon, the town in which I grew up. This is a time when people across our four nations come together to celebrate the role of the whole armed forces family—regulars, reserves, veterans, cadets and, of course, their loved ones—in defending our country and our democratic way of life. I will say something about those four categories—regulars, reserves, cadets and veterans—in my remarks this afternoon.

Beginning with reserves, Armed Forces Day and, indeed, Armed Forces Week normally enjoy bipartisan—perhaps I should say tripartisan—support in Parliament. Touching on this allows me to say something about the value of the reserves to our armed forces. In doing so, I declare an interest having served as an infantry officer in the 5th Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, in the Territorial Army, in the 1980s during the cold war, when —this dates me—the Berlin wall was still up. I greatly appreciate the extremely important role that our reserves in the Royal Naval Reserve, the Army Reserve, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the RAF Volunteer Reserve and others play in supporting our regulars in the defence of the realm.

In that context, I recently saw an analysis showing that, following the 2024 general election, there are now 17 Conservative MPs who have served or are serving in either the regular or reserve armed forces of the Crown. However, the Conservatives have no monopoly on military service, as the same survey rightly showed that Labour has 13 MPs in a similar position and the Liberal Democrats have eight. For completeness, I should add that the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) also served in the Territorial Army, so he is with us on that point. I sometimes feel that he is always with us—he is virtually omnipresent in the Chamber.

It is therefore true to say that the armed forces enjoy support across the political spectrum, at least from those of us who are here. I merely note in passing that, yet again, when defence is being discussed in this Chamber there is no Reform MP present to grace our proceedings. It is ironic and telling that Members of a party that likes to wrap itself in the flag—a flag it does not own—cannot be bothered to turn up to debate the service of those who loyally serve under that flag. Bluntly, Reform does not do defence. Nevertheless, I hope that most of what I say in the next few minutes will be broadly consensual, with perhaps one exception, which I will come to near the end.

The role of our armed forces in defending our way of life down the centuries is just as pertinent today as it has ever been, with the war in Ukraine, where brave Ukrainians continue to resist Vladimir Putin’s barbaric and illegal invasion of their country, alongside the continued turmoil in the middle east.

On the regulars, those who serve in our armed forces deserve our unstinting and ongoing support. Numerous studies show that the vast majority of people who serve in the armed forces benefit greatly from the experience. As well as serving their country, they often learn valuable skills and trades that make them highly marketable in the civilian jobs market—indeed, that can be a problem for retention, as the Minister intimated. When I served as a Defence Minister, albeit over a decade ago, one powerful statistic was that 80% of those who left the armed forces found a job within six months, and I believe the figures are equally good, if not better, today. People who are smart, disciplined and trained to turn up on time and to be resourceful are always likely to be attractive to employers.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

Veterans play an important role in my Glastonbury and Somerton constituency, where 11% of households include at least one veteran. However, female veterans are more than 10% less likely to be employed than male veterans. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that we must put more support into helping female veterans find the right employment after their service?

[Mr Francois]

I agree. We should do everything we can to help all veterans, whatever their gender, to find good employment after their service, and that certainly includes female veterans.

Forgive me, Mr Deputy Speaker, but as it is taking place in the hon. Lady’s constituency, why on earth are Kneecap being allowed to appear at the Glastonbury festival? Why on earth have the organisers allowed that to take place? [Interruption.]

Moving on, we need to bear in mind that without—

[Sarah Dyke]

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. If I may just correct the right hon. Gentleman, the Glastonbury festival site is not in my constituency.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

That is not a point of order for the Chair, but I think it is helpful to have the record corrected.

--- Later in debate ---

[Melanie Onn]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Members have said today that we will not have a future pipeline of young people who want to participate in the armed forces, who already have the training and the discipline, and who understand the lifestyle if we do not have the adults who are prepared to give up their time to support that. It is incredibly time-consuming and takes them away from their families, and it really does show a commitment not only to young people, but to their communities and the armed forces more widely.

[Sarah Dyke]

I, too, participated in my school’s combined cadet service, and we enjoyed many evenings and nights on Salisbury plain in the bitter cold—in fact, they were some of the coldest nights I have ever experienced. Glastonbury and Street sea cadets give youngsters an experience that helps them grow into the people they want to be, in a safe and friendly environment. It gives them confidence, friendship and leadership skills to help them launch well into life. Will the hon. Lady join me in celebrating groups such as Glastonbury and Street sea cadets, and thank them for all the amazing work they do?

[Melanie Onn]

I am very happy to do as the hon. Lady asks. All the organisations working with young people do an amazing job. The fact that the young people involved show up and commit themselves is testament to their resilience, and to their belief that they can achieve. They are putting time and effort into preparing themselves for their future.

The Westward Ho barracks opens its doors to our local community every year, providing hot food and drinks. It is a place for families to come to, and for everyone to get together and reflect on the day. It provides a little bit of community spirit, connection and conversation on a very important day in our constituency. We regularly see hundreds of people lining the streets as the procession goes from the minster to the memorial near the Grimsby Institute.

This year, as Cleethorpes hosts the national Armed Forces Day event—I do not want to keep saying it, but we are hosting the national event this year, and are very pleased to do so—we will be celebrating not only our nation’s servicemen and women, but the economic and cultural boost that the event will bring to our area. I have to pay tribute to our local armed forces events team. They are volunteers, and they work tirelessly at any event related to our armed forces. They are always there, and they will be working incredibly hard right down to the wire. I am absolutely sure that they will not have the opportunity to enjoy any of the events on Saturday, because they will be so busy making sure that everything is running smoothly, and that those participating and coming from outside the area to make this a grand celebration have everything they need. It will be a moment for our businesses and our tourism sector. Above all, it is about our people, and we will welcome those from around the country who will come to this national event and line the streets to give thanks to our servicemen and women.

Only recently, I had the pleasure of welcoming students from the uniformed services course at Grimsby Institute, who came into Parliament and the education centre. These young people are preparing for careers across the police, the fire service, the armed forces and the emergency response services. Their enthusiasm and discipline were a reminder that the future of our uniformed services is in good hands. They are the next chapter in our proud tradition of service, and I was very pleased to have them here.

We also have some excellent community groups. The armed forces events team have turned an old local authority building called the Knoll into a centre for signposting for veterans. It provides signposting for any kind of mental health support, housing support, or welfare and benefits advice. It is a really nice, relaxed environment, with space for veterans to have a coffee, and there are professionals to signpost them and provide additional support.

We have another brilliant grassroots group called NEL4Heroes, which is run voluntarily by ex-servicemen and women. It brings people together through food and drink, and other activities, and it really helps people who have left the services—sometimes recently, sometimes many years ago—who are finding life a little bit difficult or find themselves in a challenging situation. There is a pride that comes with service, but sometimes that pride means that people do not wish to access the help available to them. NEL4Heroes is a brilliant group that informally builds relationships and ties, and provides support. It encourages people not to feel embarrassed about requiring additional support for a period of time, and it helps them to access it. I congratulate the group on that work.

Our town’s military history runs deep and has lasting connections to our European allies. After the second world war, the Carpathian Lancers, a Polish regiment unable to return home due to the Soviet occupation, made Weelsby Woods their home. In their honour, a plaque and a wooden sculpture of their bear mascot, Wojtek, stands in the park as a tribute to their service and to the many who settled in Grimsby in 1947. I wanted to mention that, because when I was growing up, my great aunt and her mother, my great-grandmother, welcomed into their house one of those Polish servicemen, so I grew up with him, and he lived as a lodger with our family for 50 years until he passed away. I want to remember Michek Włodarczak, because he was a big part of our family’s life. I am sorry—