EMMA LEWELL-BUCK MP: Britain will be better defended with a Labour Government

But just look at the state the Conservatives have left our Armed Forces in – woefully lacking in personnel and kit.

More people are leaving the forces than joining – and the Tories have consistently cut troop numbers.

Despite Tory spin about increases in spending, official records in March suggested we would see a decrease in £2.5billion in the day-to-day defence budget compared to the previous year.

Army and Navy recruitment targets have been missed every year since 2010 and the Army is now at its smallest size since the Napoleonic Wars.

Delays to new equipment, planes, tanks, and ships, has increased the bill for the taxpayer and has increasingly left troops using gear that is past its sell-by date.

Just three in 10 members of the armed forces think their salaries are fair, according to the armed forces attitude survey, with troops and their families being forced to live in “damp and mouldy conditions” as complaints surged about accommodation by 40% in a year.

Angry Forces families have uploaded shocking videos online of babies sleeping next to mouldy walls and with water streaming through their roofs.

Even after leaving service, ex-forces personnel are treated so poorly by government that veteran homelessness has risen over the last year, 80,000 veterans are having to claim Universal Credit, and charitable organisations like the food bank Veteran’s Response in South Shields are having to take responsibility for feeding those who have sacrificed so much for our country.

In addition to this, our nuclear test veterans are still having to fight for justice.

We owe so much more to those who every single day did and continue to risk their lives for us.

Labour is the real party of defence. When in government, our country had 27,000 more troops, consistently hit recruitment targets and morale was at 60%.

Voters will not be fooled. With Labour, Britain will be better defended.