For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
Rudyard Kipling

Earlier this year a young man walked into my constituency surgery – his name is Neil Blower. Neil is a former soldier, and I thought he might be coming to ask me about the help that veterans can get with housing or employment, the kind of things that we associate with people readjusting to civilian life.

Instead Neil opened up to me about his experiences serving our country, and the effects that the terrible things he saw in combat have had on him. Neil spent six years serving in the Royal Tank Regiment, including as a peacekeeper in Kosovo and in the invasion of Iraq. During this time he saw things that are impossible for civilians like me to describe, let alone try to imagine. After his discharge Neil found himself struggling to adapt to life away from the forces and developed what is known as post traumatic stress syndrome. Neil is not alone – he told me about the help he’d had from Combat Stress.

Combat Stress is the UK’s leading military charity specialising in the care of veterans’ mental health, and looks after veterans who are suffering with problems such as PTSD, anxiety, depression, phobias and flashbacks as a result of their experiences in the heat of battle. Combat Stress received 1,400 new referrals last year, and have seen a 72 per cent increase in demand since 2005. They estimate that 960 of the service personnel leaving the armed forces in 2012 – approximately 5 per cent – are likely to suffer from PTSD, with a further 4,700 expected to develop more common mental illness such as depression or anxiety.

There is still a considerable stigma surrounding the problem of mental illness, one that is perhaps exacerbated when it comes to veterans. Some 81 per cent of our veterans with a mental illness feel ashamed or embarrassed, and one in three are too ashamed to even tell their families about their mental health problems. It is crucial that this stigma is removed to give veterans the confidence to seek the support they need and deserve.

On Tuesday this week I led a Westminster Hall debate on the provision of mental health services for veterans. MPs from all parties came together to discuss the steps that governments of different colours have made over the years in improving support for veterans, and to raise awareness of this growing problem. We have come a long way since World War I when 266 British soldiers were executed for desertion, some of whom were doubtless suffering shell shock because of what they had witnessed.  Now the department of health (who have responsibility for the welfare of veterans) and the ministry of defence work together to try and tackle PTSD, and this debate gave us the opportunity to suggest more steps for the government to take.

Following my discussions with Neil I argued that the government should consider establishing a Tommy Atkins Scholarship Fund to help servicemen and women go from combat to the classroom by paying for them to go into higher education, giving them the chance to develop their skills and a better chance to pursue a new career. Oliver Colville spoke of the need for a coordinated approach to stop the onset of depression leading to the abuse of alcohol and other substances. Ian Paisley suggested the use of a public champion to remove the stigma associated with mental illness in veterans.  James Gray urged the government to consider a statistical analysis of proportions of veterans who are homeless or imprisoned so that we can see just how big the problem is, Sir Paul Beresford pointed out that the UK has a comparatively short decommissioning period for the armed forces, and Stephen Gilbert said that the MoD could help by making their links to charities who can help veterans more prominent on their website.

Whilst some of these ideas would incur a cost, they will also potentially make savings if by rehabilitating veterans into society and enhancing their career prospects we can cut down on substance dependency, prison numbers and welfare payments.  However when it comes to our veterans the economic cost should be a secondary consideration; these men and women have put their lives on the line for our safety and the debt of gratitude we owe them takes priority over any financial consideration.

The constructive tone of this debate was heart-warming. It is only by discussing these issues that we can ensure they are treated with the important consideration that they deserve. I’m extremely grateful to Neil for coming to London and giving us an insight into the difficulties our veterans face, and for showing us that people suffering with PTSD can turn their lives around. Neil is now on a degree course in creative writing at Salford University, although as Jim Murphy said to him yesterday, now that he is a published author there is a strong argument that he should be teaching the course!

Neil’s first book – Shell Shock: The Diary of Tommy Atkins – is out now and is an incredible account of the challenges veterans face and the emotions that they are forced to deal with as they try to come to terms with a return to civilian life. Meeting Neil and reading his book gave me a much better understanding of the issues our brave servicemen and women deal with when returning from battle and it is only by raising awareness and normalising this issue that we can properly begin to address it so for that we are all extremely grateful to him.

Neil can be found on Twitter @realtommyatkins

Hazel Blears is MP for Salford and Eccles

Photo: Defence Images