It’s an essential duty of a responsible government to support our armed forces  – both in peacetime and in conflict. Over the past 13 years however, Labour have overstretched our armed forces and given inadequate support to our servicemen and women.

A new Conservative Government will launch a defence review to examine our military commitments and ensure that our soldiers, sailors and aircrew are appropriately equipped with the resources they need.

For troops on active service in Afghanistan, we will double the Operational Allowance they receive for combat duty.

Care of our armed forces personnel shouldn’t end when they leave the services. We believe that veterans with physical and mental injuries should receive the very best care available. We will take a proactive approach to the welfare of the men and women who have served in their country’s name.

The importance of our armed forces, servicemen and women and their families cannot be stressed enough, which is why we will be publishing our commitments to them in a separate Armed Forces Manifesto.

Dr. Liam Fox MP, Paul Maynard, Cllr Roy Hasket and some of Blackpool and Cleveleys many veterans.

It might not quite have coincided with Veterans Week, but I was delighted to welcome Dr Liam Fox, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, to the constituency on Saturday.

Kindly organised by Roy Haskett, Liam was able to meet with some of the veterans from the Royal Marines Association and others connected with the Fylde Ex-Servicemens’ Liaison Committee. The death of Henry Allingham, the last survivng British WWI veteran, which had been announced that morning merely underlined the debt of honour we owe these gentlemen. And as many of them pointed out, it is as important that we cater for the veterans of today’s wars as well as yesterday’s. We had a lively debate about our tactics in Afghanistan as well as the shortage of helicopters and other equipment. A good time was had by all.

Later in the evening, Liam gave a rousing speech to the local party faithful which gave us all good heart as we face a General Election which could be round the corner at any moment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/5771269/Liam-Fox-Theres-a-war-on—someone-tell-Labour.html

It is vital to safeguard our national security by defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan. The cost in human lives is high, but the cost of doing nothing would be far greater.

Lots of issues came up – dog dirt being a central theme. By coincidence, my survey has just been delivered to the residents here, and I was able to hand over the response of one lady who was concerned with dog dirt by the side of their house. “Democracy in action!” was how I described it, since she probably only put it in the post yesterday! If only all complaints could be acted on as quickly!

The councillors were also able to talk more about their plans for the Moor Park Memorial Arboretum. This is wooded area will be a memorial to all those who have served in our Armed Forces, and is only the second in the country after the National Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire. I am pleased to support this initiative, and it will be a useful point for reflection for the many veterans’ groups who gather in the resort, as well as a fitting legacy to last year’s Veterans Week. Of course, the Cenotaph in North Pier will remain the heart of remembrance ceremonies, but I believe this setting amidst glades and groves will offer space for private reflection for those who either served or lost loved ones.

As I sat in church, several thousand miles further east, troops in Afghanistan were waking up to the start of their Christmas Day. They were also waking up to the news that yet another comrade had been lost to enemy fire. Terrible news for a family to face at this time of year. Comrades of the fallen will also have been shocked - perhaps to the extent of erecting wooden crosses as was done by the Marines a couple of weeks ago when three were killed. It is an interesting juxtaposition – the cross, sign of Christ’s death and Easter Symbol, erected in Afghanistan at precisely the time of year we celebrate Christ’s birth.

And on that day of sacrifice, it staggered me that the publicly-funded broadcaster Channel 4 should see fit to broadcast a satirical (?) Christmas Day message from President Ahmedinejad of Iran, lecturing us that if Christ had been alive today, he would have fought against global imperialism. This is the very man who is President of an intolerant theocracy which oppresses women, denies freedom of conscience and political expression to millions, and is happy to execute 16-year olds. Hardly the message of Christmas love.

Surely the time has come for Channel 4 to have to find commercial justification for this rubbish rather than rely on the taxpayer. Thousands of  brave troops are risking their lives in the war against the Taleban. Ahmedinejad is a useful reminder of what they are fighting against.