LegionLive

Prime Minister David Cameron today hosted a party for the Armed Forces to celebrate The Royal British Legion’s 90th Anniversary and in support of the charity’s Battle Back Centre for the recovery of Service personnel.

The Prime Minister invited 160 guests to the No.10 Downing Street Poppy Party, including injured Service personnel, bereaved Armed Forces families and veterans of Afghanistan and previous conflicts.

Dame Vera Lynn DBE also attended as a long-standing supporter of the Legion through conflicts since WW2.

The Prime Minister paid tribute to the work of the Legion, commending the charity for its role in supporting Serving and ex-Service personnel, and their families, through nine decades of charitable work.

The Prime Minister said:
“This anniversary year is a time for us to remember just how much the Royal British Legion do to care for our Armed Forces and their families, from those who served in the first two world wars to those who are serving now in Afghanistan.

“While their needs have changed over that time, the need for the British Legion has not – the care and support they provide is as vital now as it was in 1921 and I’m delighted to support their work.”

The Legion’s National President, Lt Gen Sir John Kiszely KCB MC, thanked the Prime Minister for his hospitality and for recognising the Legion’s milestone.

“The Downing Street Poppy Party is a generous gesture for the young Service families who are here today, as well as the older veterans. It serves as a reminder of the Legion’s support of the ‘Afghanistan generation’ of the Armed Forces and shows the charity is as needed today as when it was formed in 1921,” Sir John said.

“I am thrilled that in our 90th Anniversary year we are able to announce The Royal British Legion Battle Back Centre, which will provide adaptive sports and adventurous training for wounded, injured and sick Service personnel.

“The Legion’s commitment of £50million to personnel recovery, including £30 million towards Battle Back, is on top of the £72 million we spend each year on the direct provision of welfare services. That’s £200,000 each day in help for the Armed Forces family.”

Dame Vera Lynn charmed the crowd at the Downing Street Poppy Party by meeting and chatting to guests, some of whom remembered her as the WW2 Forces Sweetheart.

“I was a little girl of four years of age living in East Ham when The Royal British Legion was formed in 1921. The Legion was there for our boys during World War Two, and it’s still here today for the boys and girls coming back from Afghanistan,” Dame Vera said.

“I’m delighted that The Royal British Legion Battle Back Centre will help the injured find a new lease on life through sports and adventure, and proud to help the Legion celebrate its 90th birthday.”

Cpl Stephen Curley of 40 Commando Royal Marines was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan in May 2010. Today his widow Kirianne Curley, 28, arrived for the party with their 18-month-old son, William.

“I’m honoured to be joining The Royal British Legion at Number 10 Downing Street,” she said. “The support we’ve received from the Legion in the aftermath of Stephen’s death has been invaluable. I had a 17-week-old baby to look after when I was told Stephen had been killed, and just having local Legion support in Devon meant a great deal.

“A military inquest into Stephen’s death is due to be heard in the near future, and I have already been offered legal assistance from the Legion. I know there is someone there for me during what can be a very distressing and clinical process.

“William and I are also due to take a holiday courtesy of the Legion. Such gestures will stay with me for the rest of my life,” she added.

The party also hosted some of our outstanding Armed Forces heroes, such as Lance Corporal Matt Croucher GC who was awarded a George Cross for bravery in action while serving in Afghanistan; and Able Seaman Kate Nesbitt MC, the first woman in the Navy to receive the Military Cross for administering aid to a comrade while under enemy fire. Both are active Legion supporters.

There were also many heroes invited who were severely injured in Service, such as Gunner Mark Stonelake of 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery, whose left leg was amputated in December 2008 after the vehicle he was driving hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan; and 27-year-old triple amputee and former Royal Marine Mark Ormrod, wounded in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve in 2007.
 
The Downing Street Poppy Party was held as part of the Great Poppy Party Weekend, a summer celebration of the charity’s 90th year from 10th - 12th June.

Supporters across the nation will throw their own parties to raise funds for the Legion’s vital welfare work.

The Legion helps with 160,000 cases to assist members of the Armed Forces family each year. Its support is available to all those serving in the Armed Forces today, all who have served in the past, and their dependents.

On Sunday The News of the World launched their campaign ‘Justice for the Brave’, which demands the Government honour David Cameron’s pledge to enshrine in law the Military Covenant, in recognition of the huge commitment our brave Armed Forces make.

At the moment, the Military Covenant is an unwritten pact between the nation and our brave servicemen and women. Last year, the Prime Minister promised that the new Government would underline its commitment to the Armed Forces by putting the Military Covenant into law.

However, Ministers now claim Britain cannot afford it and have left the enshrinement of the Covenant out of the Armed Forces Bill. Instead, Ministers are simply proposing an annual report on the Covenant by the Government itself. What sort of signal does this send our Armed Forces, veterans and their families about the Government’s commitment to them?

So, please join me and others in calling for the Armed Forces Bill to be amended to enshrine the Military Covenant in law and sign the News of the World’s petition - click here to go directly to the petition.

Chris Simpkins, Director General of The Royal British Legion which has been championing the Covenant, said:
‘This campaign to get the Military Covenant enshrined in law speaks for all our brave serving men and women who deserve a fair deal from the nation. Our troops, who put themselves in harm’s way, and their families, deserve our gratitude and life-long support. We fully support the News of the World’s campaign and join their efforts to enshrine the Military Covenant into law and we call on the British people to do likewise.’

You can also sign the petition by emailing covenant@notw.co.uk and saying you agree with the ‘Justice for the Brave’ campaign. Please include your name and address.

As I’m sure you’ve seen today, the Royal British Legion is at the forefront of the news agenda so I wanted to update you all.

The Royal British Legion has accused the Prime Minister of going back on his word to set in law a military covenant between the nation and its troops. The ‘covenant’ is an informal understanding of the duty of care the nation pledges to troops in recognition of their sacrifices in battle. The Prime Minister had pledged that it would be rewritten and enshrined in law for the first time in a speech last June on board the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. The covenant was to be given legal force in an Armed Services Bill, ensuring military personnel and veterans had rights to prioritised NHS treatment, decent housing and proper education for the children of service families.

However, it emerged yesterday that David Cameron and Defence Secretary Liam Fox have watered this down and will only legislate for ministers to publish an annual report on the covenant instead.

The Director General, Chris Simpkins yesterday spoke to various media with his response to this news.

He said: ‘The Legion is concerned that this looks like the beginnings of a Government U-turn. We hope for the sake of our Armed Forces, that the Prime Minister honours his explicit commitment to enshrine the military covenant in law. Our politicians have the authority to send our Armed Forces into conflict, so their responsibility is the greatest. Equally, only legislation can ensure that, in return for the unique nature of the sacrifices made by our Armed Forces, their welfare is supported, for example, by high-quality accommodation, healthcare and support for bereaved Armed Forces families. To suggest an annual covenant report would be as effective as a piece of legislation is nonsense and would be evidence of the Government doing a U-Turn on their explicit promises.’

Mr Simpkins, who will give evidence to the Armed Forces Bill Select Committee on Wednesday, also said the draft legislation reduced the role of an external body whose job it was to monitor the implementation of the covenant.

He added: ‘The proposals have been significantly watered down to a point where we can’t entirely support them’

For more information please see the BBC News story here.

VE Day (or ‘Victory in Europe Day’) celebrates 8th May 1945, when Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered to the World War II Allies.

As the country’s custodians of Remembrance, The Royal British Legion commemorated the 65th anniversary of the event with The Nation’s Greatest Ever Salute. It was a great opportunity for the whole country to come together to remember and honour the bravery of all those who fought and perhaps lost their lives to achieve victory.

A national service of commemoration was held at the Cenotaph in Whitehall (attended by Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall), followed by a party in Horse Guards to celebrate the WWII heroes.

At a private reception organised by the Legion, HRH Prince Charles, David Cameron and Gordon Brown met with VE Day veterans, including George Broomhead, who was infamously photographed in 1945 on top of one of the lions in Trafalgar Square!

Earlier this week I blogged about The Sun Military Awards. On Wednesday night, the awards ceremony took place, so I wanted to update you all on the event.

Lots of celebrities came to show their support for the Armed Forces, with David Beckham, Myleene Klass, Frank Lampard, Christine Bleakley and David Cameron being just some of the attendees who arrived to hear the stories of those brave personnel honoured.

After the winners of the nine categories  (which included Life Saver Award, Most Outstanding and Overcoming Adversity) were awarded, a further two Special Awards were presented. One was to the Heroes of Sangin, which honoured troops from all the Services that have served in Helmand for the past four years. The other was to pay tribute to the unsung contribution made by the heroes of Bomber Command to defeat Nazi Germany in World War Two.

What a great night!

The Prime Minister received his Poppy on the steps on Downing Street this morning from London Poppy Appeal Collectors Ann Bedford, Steph Davenport and George Farrow.

The national launch of the 2010 Poppy Appeal will takes place at Colchester Garrison tomorrow morning, with a spectacular private concert performed by musical pop chart sensations, The Saturdays.

The concert, exclusively for the families and personnel of 16 Air Assault Brigade, currently on operations in Afghanistan, will feature video messages from personnel stationed in Afghanistan for the families of those watching.

The launch will also feature a parachute display from the Legion’s extreme human flight team, ‘Jump4Heroes’, who will land next to the site where the first new Personnel Recovery Centre will be built. The Legion has committed £25 million to the Personnel Recovery Centres.

Following on from my previous post, this year the Poppy Appeal is doing something a little different and releasing our first ever single! All funds raised will go to the Royal British Legion to support serving and ex-serving troops and their families.

The single, which is actually two minutes of silence, will be available to download on the 7th November. As well as downloading the ‘song’, there is a video of some amazing people paying their respects – including David Cameron, Mark Ronson and Andy Murray. You can check out a teaser for the video on the LegionLive homepage.

You can visit this link and we’ll send you an email reminder to buy the single on 7th November 2010: http://bit.ly/poppyreminder

Follow me on Twitter for updates about the single, and keep your eyes peeled for the stars talking about it too!

Sunday saw the 65th anniversary of VJ day, which marks the victory over Japan and the end of the Second World War.

Members of the public, joined by HRH Prince Charles and David Cameron at the Whitehall Memorial, joined in commemoration of the troops who fought for the country in India and Burma, laying wreaths and paying their respects to more than half a million men.

Considering that those who fought in the Far East were known as ‘the forgotten army’, RAF serviceman Peter Proctor, 88, said ‘I think it’s very important to keep the memory alive.’

But the commemoration didn’t stop there; focus was also drawn to Judy the Hero Dog – an English pointer who became the only dog registered as an official Prisoner of War.

During her action-packed life, Judy saved the lives of many soldiers by finding food and water in an almost inhospitable terrain, whilst managing to survive being chased by a Sumatran tiger, many gun shot wounds, alligator bites and wild dog attacks.

Judy quite rightly won the animal Victoria Cross for her bravery – and proved that dogs really are a man’s best friend!

An independent survey of MPs by nfp Synergy has ranked The Royal British Legion as the most effective charity at campaigning. The majority of those MPs also named the Legion as the charity that first comes to mind on issues affecting the Armed Forces.

This is great news! As you know, the Legion campaigns for the whole Armed Forces Family and has been tirelessly rallying support for its ‘Do Your Bit’ campaign to promote its general election manifesto.

Almost a thousand general election candidates have already pledged to ‘do their bit,’  including Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Each pledge is personal to the MP or PPC so although they are not endorsing the Legion’s manifesto they have made an individual pledge to ‘do their bit.’

The campaign really seems to have struck a chord and the Legion is hopeful that the party leaders will take note of the thousands of pledges it has recieved and reflect this in their manifestos.

More than 350 MPs and over 650 PPCs have pledged their support but there is always time for more! Members of the public can encourage their local candidates to pledge at www.timetodoyourbit.org.uk

As you may have seen in this Saturday’s The Sun, David Cameron, MP for Witney and Leader of the Opposition, has pledged his support to do his bit for the British Armed Forces family.

David Cameron met with a delegation from The Royal British Legion at Westminster to show his support for the charity’s manifesto which calls for general election candidates of all parties to support the whole Armed Forces family.

The manifesto sets out priorities for the next Government to improve conditions for the British Armed Forces past and present and their families.

Kevin Shinkwin, the Legion’s Head of Public Affairs, said, ‘We’re really grateful to Mr Cameron for pledging to do his bit. Our message to every MP and candidate standing at the general election is very simple: “It’s time to do your bit.”‘

Mr Cameron said, “I was delighted to pledge to do my bit. I spoke at the Legion’s recent party conference reception because I know the difference it makes to people’s lives in constituencies across the country. The Legion has an important role to play in highlighting the needs of the whole Armed Forces family, and they deserve our support.”

You can find out more about The Legions manifesto and  pledge your support for the whole Armed Forces family, both now and beyond the general election by visiting www.timetodoyourbit.org.uk