'We must cherish and invest in the UK armed forces' - Passionate plea from West Midlands MP and former serviceman

We have just marked Armed Forces Day. It invited us to reflect on what true support for our service personnel means.

Those who wear the uniform are the very best of us, embodying courage, sacrifice, and quiet strength. 

They give us their all and deserve more than words; they deserve meaningful action and lasting commitment from us as a nation.

In a world of challenges and uncertainty, one truth remains: the quiet strength of those who serve. 

Our Armed Forces are vital to national security and embody discipline, duty, and sacrifice for the greater good, values increasingly rare in a society that often rewards the opposite.

I know this world personally. As a former Royal Marine, I understand long deployments, the heavy silences, and the resilience service life demands. I’ve seen what it takes- and what it gives back.

Gratitude must go beyond ceremony and applause. Words without action are hollow. For too long, the bond between our country and those who serve has frayed. 

Too many service personnel live in housing unfit for purpose. Pay has fallen behind inflation.

Recruitment and retention are suffering. Veterans face a fragmented, bureaucratic system just to access basic support. 

This is not good enough, which is why I, alongside my Labour colleagues, have worked in Parliament to push for lasting reform

Now, we are starting to deliver.

Under Labour, the largest pay rise for the Armed Forces in over twenty years has been secured. We’re investing £7 billion to upgrade military housing and have taken 36,000 homes back into public ownership after years of failed privatisation. 

We’ve launched VALOUR, a new system to help veterans access housing, employment, and healthcare, cutting through red tape rather than adding to it.

Soon, the UK will appoint its first Armed Forces Commissioner: an independent advocate for service members and their families on issues like housing, equipment, and welfare. These are not symbolic gestures; they are foundations for a renewed contract with those who protect us.

But if we are serious about defence, we must look beyond numbers. This week at the NATO summit, the UK reaffirmed its commitment to spending five per cent of national security resources on strengthening alliances and capabilities. We must also ask where that investment goes.

My grandfather served on HMS Catterick; a destroyer built in Barrow-in-Furness. Towns like Barrow and Halesowen in the Black Country once formed the industrial backbone of our national defence, not just supporting war efforts but making victory possible.

That connection must be rebuilt. In Halesowen today, firms like Somers Forge and BB Price still manufacture components vital to our Armed Forces. They are not relics; they are central to building a modern defence economy that supports jobs, skills, and resilience.

Armed Forces Day must be more than a celebration. It must be a call to action.

Britain’s defence does not begin at the frontline. It begins with the promises we keep, the industries we rebuild, and the respect we show, not just on parade, but in the policies that support those who give their all.