There’s a good reason Labour is spending to stop veteran homelessness – the party’s Plymouth Moor View MP was elected after the previous (Tory) incumbent failed to do it.
Johnny Mercer, the Tories’ Minister for Veterans’ Affairs (intemittently between 2019 and July 5 this year (2024), had promised to end veterans’ homelessness in 2023, saying, “Hold me to account.”
So, at the general election on July 4, Moor View constituents did just that – kicking him out of Parliament and replacing the former Army officer with a former Royal Marine – and a veteran to boot: Fred Thomas [pictured].
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
It didn’t help Mercer that, after he made his promise, veteran homelessness shot up by 14 per cent. Figures showed 2,110 households were affected during 2022-23, up from 1,850 the year before.
This was despite the provision of an £8.8 million housing fund.
Now, Keir Starmer is adding £3.5 million to the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme, with the money to be spent on reducing rough sleeping by veterans and on the Op Fortitude helpline, a referral service to help former service people find housing support.
It will also fund mental health support and help with employment and independent living, funding services this Christmas, throughout next year and into 2026.
These are all initiatives that were set up by the former Tory government in support of Mercer’s pledge. It seems Starmer intends to make them work properly – and if they do, he will deserve praise.
Also praiseworthy is this: The government has also confirmed it will fulfil a manifesto pledge to put the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law. It is a promise to treat those who have served with fairness and respect.
The government also promised – in September – to get veterans onto social housing lists more easily with a “homes for heroes” scheme that will exempt veterans from local connection tests, which most councils use to decide who can qualify for social housing. Young care leavers and domestic abuse victims will also be exempted.
These changes have yet to be enshrined in law.
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There’s a good reason Labour is spending to stop veteran homelessness
There’s a good reason Labour is spending to stop veteran homelessness – the party’s Plymouth Moor View MP was elected after the previous (Tory) incumbent failed to do it.
Johnny Mercer, the Tories’ Minister for Veterans’ Affairs (intemittently between 2019 and July 5 this year (2024), had promised to end veterans’ homelessness in 2023, saying, “Hold me to account.”
So, at the general election on July 4, Moor View constituents did just that – kicking him out of Parliament and replacing the former Army officer with a former Royal Marine – and a veteran to boot: Fred Thomas [pictured].
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
It didn’t help Mercer that, after he made his promise, veteran homelessness shot up by 14 per cent. Figures showed 2,110 households were affected during 2022-23, up from 1,850 the year before.
This was despite the provision of an £8.8 million housing fund.
Now, Keir Starmer is adding £3.5 million to the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme, with the money to be spent on reducing rough sleeping by veterans and on the Op Fortitude helpline, a referral service to help former service people find housing support.
It will also fund mental health support and help with employment and independent living, funding services this Christmas, throughout next year and into 2026.
These are all initiatives that were set up by the former Tory government in support of Mercer’s pledge. It seems Starmer intends to make them work properly – and if they do, he will deserve praise.
Also praiseworthy is this: The government has also confirmed it will fulfil a manifesto pledge to put the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law. It is a promise to treat those who have served with fairness and respect.
The government also promised – in September – to get veterans onto social housing lists more easily with a “homes for heroes” scheme that will exempt veterans from local connection tests, which most councils use to decide who can qualify for social housing. Young care leavers and domestic abuse victims will also be exempted.
These changes have yet to be enshrined in law.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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