On Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, I joined many other local residents at services in Bushey, Potters Bar and Borehamwood.

The centenary of its start last year, and the centenary of the battle of the Somme next year, has meant that our focus has recently been on the First World War. The impact of that conflict on our community was most clearly illustrated by Bushey Museum’s work in highlighting houses where soldiers lived.

The Second World War seems less distant. Watching Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh paying their respects at the Cenotaph though is a reminder that they are the final public figures with direct experience.

The passage of time does not mean that remembrance should stop. This country has been involved in many conflicts since, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I am acutely aware of the sacrifices made by local people in these operations. This has been brought home to me on several occasions when I’ve had veterans attend my surgeries. The suffering and sacrifices of conflict don’t end on the battlefield. In modern warfare so many people return home with lost limbs and the unseen mental scars of war.

As your elected representative, I am very aware that one of the biggest decisions I can make in Parliament is whether to support a decision by the Government to send our service personnel into military action. When that happens, it is those men and women who put themselves in the way of harm to defend our freedom and security.

In return, we are under an obligation to properly support the armed forces and their families. This means that collectively, the Government must uphold the military covenant, and that individually we should do all we can to support the Royal British Legion’s annual poppy appeal. It is the very least we owe them, and all those who have gone before them, for their sacrifice and commitment.  

This article appeared in the November edition of MyBushey and MyRadlett news.