MP COLUMN: Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde

Last weekend we remembered all our fallen service people and it was tremendous to see the level of support for the Remembrance parade and service in Stalybridge in the morning and again in Hyde – despite the rain - in the afternoon.

It was particularly heartening to see so many young people involved in Remembrance. Thank you to all those who organised and attended the acts of remembrance across the weekend.

As well as remembering those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, it is also right that we should support those who did come home. It is clear that Veterans often struggle to reintegrate to society and suffer higher rates of mental health issues, homelessness and suicide. They also oftenstruggle to engage with support organisations that do not understand their unique needs. It was great to hear the announcement from my colleaguesDefence Secretary John Healey and Minister for Veterans Alistair Kearns last week that veterans will now get specialist support to transition back into society through the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme.

Staying on help for veterans, it was at conference last month that the Prime Minister pledged that we will provide ‘Homes for Heroes’ by ensuring veterans have access to social housing where they live. Which shows the importance of developments like Onward’s Birch Lea Park in Hattersley, that I had the pleasure to visit a month ago. 

I also had the privilege to open the new supported living flats on the site of the old police station opposite Tesco in Stalybridge at the beginning of October. With these two developments, it is good to see that in Tameside we are investing in building good quality social housing that is so desperately needed to support all adults and children that need support gaining their independence.

This week I also gave evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. I am grateful to subpostmasters impacted by this scandal in Stalybridge and Hyde for the invaluable insight they have provided as I have prepared for my evidence giving. The Horizon scandal is one of the most egregious miscarriages of justice in British history.

As I told the inquiry, I will be keenly reading the outcomes to see how I can ensure fair redress for wronged subpostmasters and prevent such a scandal happening again.

This Labour Government is determined to fix all the harm done by the last Conservative Government so everyone who was neglected in their hour of need will get the help they deserve.