The Military Covenant and remembrance

We all owe a special duty to our soldiers, remembering those who have lost their lives, or suffered in war.  

That is why last week the Government announced a new Military Covenant. It will include a new veterans' card allowing discounts and privileges, and that a fund will support state schools with large numbers of service children. Council tax relief for overseas personnel will rise from 25% to 50%. And the Government has set aside a relief fund of £30 million to support joint projects between local communities and the Armed Forces, or veterans groups, like the British Legion.

We have a history of remembrance in Harlow, and we have a strong local branch of the British Legion. Only last November, at Netteswell Memorial Garden in School Lane, there was a moving ceremony - covered by the BBC - to mark the building of the new memorial to fallen soldiers who had died in action since the Second World War. It is a tribute to Harlow British Legion and Harlow Council that they ensured the Memorial was built.

Tragically, 1966 is the only year since 1939 where no member of our armed forces died in action.

For too long at Remembrance Services, only the names of those in action before or in the Second World War have been read out. But in the future, in Harlow at least, all those who have passed away since 1945 will be included. This wrong has now been put right.

Sadly, elsewhere around the country some of our servicemen and women who died in action since the Second World War, their names are not always inscribed on memorials. That is why I asked the Defence Secretary if he would extend the £30 million fund to include funding memorials for our fallen soldiers. He has agreed to look at this.

Only a week or so ago I was honoured to visit the Harlow Oddfellows hall, for their remembrance service of Harlow Oddfellows who died in the First World War. They were a living example, that we must remember our fallen soldiers not just in stone memorials and books, but in our thoughts and prayers also.