Poppy Appeal
Posted by Edward Vaizey, MP for Wantage, at 12:31, Sat 24 October 2009:
I launched the Poppy Appeal for oxfordshire this year in Wallingford, and made a donation from the funds I have raised for charity since becoming an MP. I will be attending the Remembrance Day Parades at Wallingford and Didcot on Remembrance Sunday this year. It is always a very moving occasion, and most people have noted that the crowds swell each year. This is not surprising given the prominence that the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken. But it is nonetheless very welcome.
As the MP for Wantage I am conscious of the huge contribution local people are making to the conflicts. Although RAF Benson is not in the constituency it is on the doorstep, and many of its personnel live in Wallingford and Cholsey. Like the Rifles, RAF Benson enjoys the freedom of the town. I have visited Benson, and been taken up in a Merlin, which is one of the most modern helicopters available. In this respect at least, our troops are well provided for. It is home to Flt Lt Michelle Goodman, the first woman to win the Distinguished Flying Cross. In Didcot, we have Vauxhall Barracks, which I have also visited, home to the bomb disposal team, who sadly lost Warrant officer Gary O’Donnell earlier in the year. Grove resident Claire Griffiths received national prominence when as staff sergeant she was the only woman in Afghanistan to drive an armoured vehicle in combat conditions. In Abingdon, we have Dalton Barracks which will become part of the constituency at the general election, and which I have recently visited. And in Shrivenham we have the Defence College, effectively the "post-graduate" university of the armed forces, which I have been to on several occasions. Most poignantly of all, every serviceman and woman who is returned from Afghanistan travels along the A420 on their way to the John Radcliffe. Many members of the Royal British Legion stand salute in Watchfield and on the A420 at Faringdon, and I have been privileged to stand with them on several occasions.
In Parliament I am a member of the Armed Forces Parliamentary scheme, which means that I spend time with the Royal Marines and try and get a better understanding of the pressures our Forces face. I have visited them at their headquarters, and in Afghanistan and the Falklands.
This is not the right place to discuss the politics of the conflicts our armed forces are involved in, simply to take the opportunity to salute them and pay tribute to some of the bravest men and women in our country. It is a privilege to know just a few of them.
As usual, I can be contacted at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA, 020 7219 6350, vaizeye@parliament.uk.
Forthcoming surgeries November 6th – Faringdon, Corn Exchange and November 20th – Didcot, King Alfred Drive Community Centre, both at 530pm, no appointment necessary
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