Former soldiers say they will refuse to answer the Government’s call to arms for the way it has treated veterans.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham chairs a meeting of the National Economic Council in Glasgow. (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Hundreds of former soldiers will snub Andy Burnham’s plans to call them back into uniform and fight for Britain if war with Russia erupts. A growing movement of veterans say Labour abandoned soldiers with mental health issues and left then on the streets homeless. The angry backlash directed towards the Government comes just days before the Prime Minister will join the nation in paying respect to the country’s fallen veterans at the Armistice ceremony in London and across the country next week.
It follows Government plans to mount a mass mobilisation next spring to evaluate how many of the estimated 95,000 retired soldiers will answer a national ‘call to duty’ and make themselves available to rejoin their regiments and be mobilised for operations. Men and women who have served in the Armed Forces and have a liability to be ‘re-called’ back into the military as part of their original terms of service will be contacted in early 2027, with the plan to use them to boost the size and capability of the regular Army in time of war or major conflict.
Fears that Russia is about to attack Europe with drones and broaden the Ukraine conflict has resulted in military chiefs putting the Army on a so-called red-alert ‘war -footing’ with senior commanders advising the Government it will need to call on former soldiers in any conflict and introduce conscription.
In dozens of online posts former soldiers say their will not fight for the country and claim migrants are being homed before veterans, while benefits claimants get priority over them with the majority of personnel who need help being forced to rely on charities and friends for assistance.
Pete Watson, who served 19 years in the Army, said the Government ignores the problems that former soldiers experience until they need them, then all of a sudden they heap praise on them because they want them to fight again.
He said: “I left four years ago and I have struggled to get a job, the waiting list for a council house is nine years, so we have been renting in what I can only describe a sub-standard accommodation. I have had lots of talks and advice but no direct help.
“There is no way I will be going back into uniform, I would rather go to prison. Burnham and his team don’t care, as far as I am concerned he can recruit the army of benefit claimants who do nothing and seem to get everything. Labour don’t care about us.”
Pete added: “Burnham’s response to the threat from Russia is to stock up on soup and get yourself a wind-up radio – I think that tells you all you need to know about how seriously this Government is taking the threat in Eastern Europe.
A homeless female veteran sleeping on the ground with a sign begging for help (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
“We saw more personnel take their own lives in the years after the Falklands then we lost in the war. It is the same now, I had a friend in the police who has served in the Paras and served in Afghanistan – he took his own life. No one cares and this left-wing circus of a Government has left us marginalised in our own country.”
Other posts on social media by veterans claim Labour has more interest in housing foreign nationals than it does supporting those who have fought for their country with one post criticising Labour’s lack of investment in defence. It said “neither Starmer or Burnham invested in the lads accommodation, which is dire and in urgent need of refurbishment”.
Another, who calls himself “the Pirate”, said on Telegram: “Can we honestly expect former soldiers to jump back into uniform after the manner in which the Labour party has hounded soldiers for so-called vexatious claims in respect of operations in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan.
“Labour failed the military in Afghanistan and continue to do so, veterans have had to rely on charities to get specialist care such as high-tech prosthetic limbs.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have served our country, and value both the skills they continue to offer our national defence and our responsibility to support them as veterans. Members of the Strategic Reserve provide vital expertise in diverse areas including cyber, medicine, intelligence and communications which defence can call on in a crisis.
“At the same time, we are investing £50 million in Valour to transform veterans’ support across the UK, alongside dedicated mental health, housing and employment support ensuring they can access the support they need where and when they need it.”