Brian Leishman

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I thank the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for securing this debate. The financial, social and emotional support the Royal British Legion has provided veterans for over a century has been quite remarkable. Even though I have never served in the military, the camaraderie of veterans and their shared bond of looking after each other is something that I can recognise, admire and respect. As an MP, I see the same traits in organisations and charities in my constituency. Times have been incredibly hard this last decade and a half, and rallying around each other has kept people and communities going. The Wee County Veterans of Clackmannanshire is a group that show the very best of both the veterans and the wider local community. It has been my honour to attend their meetings, to share a Christmas dinner in their company and to represent them here in Parliament. I would like to speak on a recent decision made by the RBL to withdraw the Armed Services Advice Project. ASAP was established in 2010 and has given assistance to more than 21,500 Scottish veterans. In its 14 years, the scheme helped veterans access over £20 million-worth of benefits and compensation. For many, ASAP’s intervention alleviated poverty or stopped them descending into it. As well as saving veterans from destitution, the services also saved lives. In collaboration with the Wee Country Veterans and RBLS Grangemouth, ASAP co-ordinators such as Ally Gemmell dealt with struggles that many veterans were wrestling with. Isolation, homelessness, adapting to civilian life, grinding penury and suicidal thoughts were commonplace in the daily conversations that Ally would have. For RBL to axe the scheme was a mistake. ASAP, and the lifesaving individual relationships it created, have been replaced by a call centre service that will have to help veterans who are in extreme distress. RBL called it remodelling the service—but what that really meant was cuts. I would appreciate it if the Minister could engage with RBL regarding potential reinstatement of ASAP, because our veterans deserve much better than to be victims of decisions that leave them more vulnerable.