Westbury’s MP And-rew Murrison has published his first book, with a foreword by the Prime Minister, David Came-ron, about the military covenant – the concept that people who serve in the armed forces should not get a raw deal compared to other civilians.
In ‘Tommy this an’ Tommy that: the military covenant’, Andrew Murrison draws on his knowledge as a serving doctor in the Royal Navy and his ten years as a frontline politician. He was a Royal Navy surgeon commander and consultant occupational physician before entering Parliament in 2001. He was recalled in 2003 to serve as a battle group MO in south-east Iraq.
Andrew Murrison said, “The title of my book is taken from Rudyard Kipling’s 1890 poem Tommy, in which the eponymous squaddie catalogues the slights of an unappreciative Victorian public. More than a century on the public has not entirely changed its ways, and there have been too many instances of abuse of individuals and memorials, causing some to call on Parliament to write new offences into law.
“Military service is unique. In no other trade or profession are practitioners required to close with and kill an enemy, potentially make the ultimate sacrifice and surrender rights that civilians take for granted. For all its slights and shortcomings, the public instinctively knows this and is perfectly capable of separating its antipathy towards two unpopular wars from its admiration of the men and women of our armed forces. This month the charity phenomenon Help for Heroes topped £100 million.”
The book sets the events of the past ten years in historical context, and also charts the ways in which societal and political changes have impacted on the wellbeing of uniformed men and women, and the nation’s changing sense of obligation towards the military. Crucially, he asks what the future holds for the military covenant.
‘Tommy this an’ Tommy that: the military covenant’ is published by BiteBack publishing.
