Chance encounter proves need to support our troops, says Lib Dem hopeful

9.25.56pm GMT Mon 25th Jan 2010

Stuart Bonar is supporting the Royal British Legion and has signed up to "do his bit" for the armed forces

A chance encounter in a local train has led a local prospective parliamentary candidate to redouble his campaign for better support and welfare for armed forces personnel.

Travelling up to Exeter earlier this week, Stuart Bonar, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman for the new seat of Plymouth Moor View, got talking to a 21-year-old member of the Coldstream Guards. The guardsman was on his way from Cornwall, en route to deployment in Afghanistan.

"This young guy was about to head out to Afghanistan for the second time. He was very open with me about some of the bad things he had witnessed during his first time there, and was clearly very apprehensive about what the next few months hold for him.

"What troubled me was that he readily admitted to turning to drink to help him deal with the stress. He said that he had asked for help, but none had been forthcoming. He was a very decent young man who needed support."

Stuart is writing to the Secretary of State for Defence, Bob Ainsworth, to ask him to look into the provision of welfare and support services for service personnel.

"During our conversation, across the aisle of the train, a woman boarded who was booked into the seat next to him. When she saw the drink in front of him, she just walked off to find another seat. He wasn't drunk or misbehaving. He just had a drink in front of him. This clearly hurt this guy a lot. There he was, about to head off to Afghanistan for a few months to deal with things many times worse than I have ever seen or known, and he's being looked down upon. She didn't know that, of course, but it clearly had an effect on him.

"We really do need to honour our armed forces. Not just when they are marching in a parade, wearing their smart uniforms, but in their everyday life when they are dealing with the consequences of what we are asking them to do."