Labour PPC praises public sector workers and veterans

Margaret Mullane, the Labour Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, has spoken on public sector workers and present and former armed service men and women.

Margaret said: "We depend so much on our public sector workers such as doctors, nurses, police, teachers and our armed services men and women, we need them for our safety and security, health and well being and for our future.

Like most people reading this, I clapped our nurses, doctors and ambulance staff on those Thursday evenings during the height of the pandemic, but I always knew they deserved more than that. Better pay for sure, but also better resourcing and equipment for them to do their jobs properly. I believe the great majority of people in Dagenham and Rainham and across the nation share that view.

But I also want to make specific mention of our present and former armed services men and women who literally have put their lives on the line to safeguard the nation. I have given my commitment, should I be elected to serve Dagenham and Rainham in Parliament, to support the establishment of an Armed Forces Commissioner to improve life for service men and women and their families. This will be the first step in renewing the UK’s moral contract with our Forces. The Commissioner will be a strong public voice for personnel and their families, to improve service life, and strengthen parliamentary oversight."

Margaret added: "I am proud to back the campaigns from the Royal British Legion to do right by the veterans who have served the UK. It’s too often the case that veterans on leaving the armed services sometimes struggle on re entering civilian society and need some help. I believe our veteran service men and women deserve respect and assistance and the appointment of a Veterans Commissioner for England would be a big step forward. At present Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have Veterans Commissioners, but England does not. In the other nations of the UK veterans know who to turn to so that their voices can be heard. That isn’t the case in England.

 And this matters locally, because in Dagenham and Rainham we have 1,778 veterans and 4,123 other residents living in households with a veteran. 60% of those veterans in our area are over the age of 65 and a third are registered disabled.

It might be unfashionable to some to talk about public service and duty, when for those people it’s all about self and greed. My view is that the people I talk about above represent what is best about Britain and we should value them, because without them our society would quickly fall apart."