Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Rt Hon Johnny Mercer MP, spent the day with Dean Russell, MP for Watford, on Thursday, April 27.
The pair met with former footballer Luther Blissett OBE DL and a veterans group before campaigning in the Watford area.
MyLocalNews spoke with them exclusively to find out more.
Mr Mercer MP said: “Dean is a fantastic advocate in Parliament, particularly around the veterans’ peace and I am the Veterans’ Minister. We’ve been with Luther Blissett this morning, talking about an initiative he’s looking at doing around veterans’ care in football and football clubs. We met a veterans’ group after that and now we’re doing some door-knocking to find out what the good people of Watford think and trying to encourage them to vote in the elections on May 4.
“Veterans care has obviously accelerated quite a lot over the last few years and there are some really good provisions. What I am interested in is where people have fallen through the gaps so I can really understand what they are and try and design the system so that it works properly. But on the whole, we’re in a completely difference space to where we were, we’ve got a new prime minister who takes this stuff seriously. I’m determined to make this the best country in the world to be a veteran.”
Mr Russell MP said: “Knocking on doors, we’re hearing really positive feedback. The issues I often say when you’re knocking on doors aren’t the big mainstream political stories – it’s potholes, pavements, street lighting – stuff that affects people on a day-to-day basis.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the work I’m doing around my Tips Bill around supporting people around mental health, and the work around ending homelessness in Watford, where I’ve helped secure over £5million over the past three years to make sure we can help end rough sleeping through the fantastic work of our local charities.”
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