Veterans minister Al Carns admits old soldiers have been cold shouldered for years – and vows urgent intervention.
The former Royal Marines colonel, 44, wants the government to co-ordinate the work of forces charities. It comes as too many suffer post-traumatic stress, substance abuse and homelessness.
Mr Carns made the pledge as he watched our injured heroes in action at the Invictus Games in Canada. Giving an exclusive interview to the Mirror, he told us: “Let’s be really honest and step back, the reality is that consecutive governments haven’t taken as much responsibility as they should have for veterans and veteran support.
“Veterans have fulfilled the number one priority of the government, which is to keep our country safe. It’s our duty to support them. There are 1,733 charities out there supporting the armed forces community. We need to harness that and I think there’s a government role in that.”
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Mr Carns has admitted he struggled to adapt to civilian life after 24 years in the army. Acknowledging that too many veterans are falling through the cracks, he said: “We’re looking at how we can better help veterans get into jobs and employment.
“We’ve got to look at the mechanism and structure we’ve put in place to work in local authorities and we need to help local authorities to deliver support to veterans in a more effective way.
“We do that through enhancing the office for veteran affairs’ ability to coordinate delivery, in conjunction with the charity sector. The more you put in the more you actually save in the longer term because veterans can actually bring a huge amount of economic benefit to the country.”
Mr Carns says the government must address a number of problems, including the cost of living crisis, but he says PM Keir Starmer and defence secretary John Healey “have got the veterans absolutely front and centre of their hearts”. And he added: “We’ve got VE Day coming up, the most courageous and bravest generation, the 80th year, so what a fantastic opportunity to champion veteran’s requirements.”
The Birmingham Selly Oak MP spoke to Prince Harry – who founded the Invictus Games in 2014 – about the next contest in the city in 2027. He said: “I had breakfast with Harry this morning. What he’s done is amazing. From nothing, this is now an international event with 23 different countries.
“We talked about how we can build this in the future and make sure Birmingham is a success and it grows. When you leave the military, in a lot of cases you come out of that very close-knit circle of friends and camaraderie.
“So to give people a sense of purpose through sport to continue their journey towards getting better, whether that be physical or psychological, is such a positive thing.”
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Mr Carns is set to attend Sunday night’s Invictus Games closing ceremony where he will play a role in the official hand-over ahead of the next championships in Birmingham in 2027.
Speaking about the next Games, he said: “I think it’s really important we get a festival feel going on to make it an amazing family event because I think [Birmingham] will be the one to watch and it will be great for the city as well.
“Invictus is going to go from strength to strength. We want to internationalise it now a bit more. We’ve had 40,000 people in Vancouver for the opening ceremony and I think we can easily compete with that.
“I’m a veteran of 24 years service and I’m here to support veterans and we’re going to work really hard over the next 12 months to do that. I’ve got their back.”