Luke Pollard MP Labour & Co-op Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton & Devonport
Service personnel and their families are being failed by the Conservatives.
The report of the independent Kerslake Commission on Armed Forces Housing is an indictment of Conservative failure of our armed forces and their families:
1/3https://t.co/dUY92NG9Y1— Labour Friends of the Forces (@labourforces) May 1, 2024
This month, a new landmark report into Armed Forces housing has found that “poor accommodation has effectively become a tax on the goodwill of Service personnel and their families.”
The findings of the Kerslake Commission on Armed Forces Housing, launched in February 2023, chaired by the late Lord Kerslake, former Head of the Civil Service, also found that the shocking state of service accommodation is reducing the effectiveness of the UK’s Armed Forces when threats are rising.
Our Shadow Defence Secretary, John Healey, commissioned the independent Kerslake review because Ministers are failing our forces and their families daily with the dire state of service accommodation.
This damning report highlights the shoddy state of armed forces housing and the damage it’s doing to service morale. Ministers have seriously broken something that is so important to a good life in the forces.
It also brings valuable expert views to the challenges facing Armed Forces housing and is a vital contribution to the debate about how to deliver homes fit for heroes.
In government, Labour will renew the country’s commitment to those who serve, set new standards for service housing and legislate for an Armed Forces Commissioner to act as a strong independent champion for our Forces and their families to improve service life.