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- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
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Sunday, 30 May 2021 (YJC) _A UK member of Parliament has called the soldiers' deaths 'appalling.
A mum has spoken of her heartbreak after her son became the eleventh soldier from a single battalion to take his own life.
Andy Francis is one of the men who have killed themselves after they served with or were attached to 2 Rifles.
Most had been diagnosed with PTSD or had suffered severe mental health issues after leaving the army.
Ex-veterans’ minister Johnny Mercer has called the deaths “appalling” and the failure to care for veterans “a stain on the country”. Here is his comment...
There is no excuse for this appalling situation to continue.
That veterans who served in the bloodiest conflict this country has seen for 50 years are still taking their lives in 2021 because they cannot find help is a shocking stain on our nation.
It is a total betrayal of these men and their families.
Veterans' care does exist but accessing it and navigating clear care pathways remain deeply challenging - impossible, I would suggest, for the poor souls who reach the levels of desperation we have seen this week.
Tackling this specific challenge of navigating care was precisely the overarching objective in setting up the UK's first Office for Veterans' Affairs in 2019.
But as that was a political decision by this Prime Minister - one for which he deserves credit - allowing the situation on veterans' care to continue as it stands is a political choice too.
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