York Council slammed by ex-Veterans Minister after banning military equipment at Armed Forces Day

Good afternoon. Yeah, I mean, it's crazy, isn't it

And it's just, you know, it's in line with the kind of moral ambivalence and lack of, you know

it's all tokenistic interests, really, we see in the veterans and in the military in this country

And to be honest, I think a lot in the military community are pretty fed up with it

It's embarrassing. And I think, you know, the key thing is it doesn't really represent what ordinary folk think, right

Ordinary folk are incredibly proud of the military. You know, they want to get days like this right

But you do have these outliers who seem to think that everyone hates the military now

They're a terrible organisation, whereas, in fact, they're, you know, this incredible force for good

this incredible life chances machine that you can go and have a great career afterwards from. So, look, I think it's really sad, but it's the world we live in

I mean, you've seen under this government of veterans' rights, slowly sort of corroded

and, you know, progress being undone and things like that. So I'm not surprised, but I don't think many of us

are going to let it happen without saying something. What protests do you think they're nervous about, Johnny

Oh, God knows. I mean, you know, we've got a government that is going from

you know, legislation to protect veterans in Northern Ireland to paying Gerry Adams compensation, right

So I think that's the way the political tide is going at the moment

And I just think this is a wider reflection of that. It's not actually in keeping with the way most people feel about the military

I think it's, you know, and I just want people to know that it doesn't, you know, it doesn't really reflect the nation

It doesn't reflect the way people truly feel about the military. But it is a really good example of you know if you look at the statement your council put out about how they really kind of you know talk about the armed forces covenants and how they gold award holders and so on But they not prepared to show military kit on parade on armed forces day

And it just shows you the kind of tokenistic approach that I'm afraid some of us are quite sick of in the UK and shows that really, you know

there needs to be better metrics and better way of holding local authorities

and groups that support the military covenant to account. Well, this is the thing that annoys me, Johnny

I mean, it's like, you know, it's the military, it's the armed forces that protect us, right

OK, we know there's not enough of them. We know they're not paid enough. We know we treat veterans accordingly

All of those things apply. But the bottom line is we rely on the armed forces to protect us, OK

So I have not... We are going to read a statement out from your council in a minute as to their reasons behind it

But I suspect, reading between the lines here, they're worried about the flag we constantly see on our streets at the moment, and that's the Palestinian flag

Well, look, I'm not going to get into that issue. I think that I just think that it's a sad reflection of where we are

You know, I think that it's, like I said, not in keeping with the way people feel

I understand, you know, people don't want to protest on force today, but I've never seen that or heard of it

But, you know, certainly where I'm from in Plymouth, it's an amazing day for everyone to come together and reconnect with the military community

And it's a fantastic initiative and a good chance to go and, you know, really find out what a career in the military is like

There's so many misnomers around it, so much misunderstanding. But like I said, you know, the key for me is the difference between what York City Council actually say and then how it feels like to be a veteran or to be in the armed forces

And for me, you know, how that reflects among the service community and makes them feel is what bothers me

And yeah, that's that's why I think we've still got more to do in this space