‘He has taken a committed interest in what is going on within the community’ - Dewsbury MP attends veterans lunch at Mirfield pub for Trafalgar Day

Mr Eastwood gave a ‘poignant’ speech in front of over 20 local ex-service personnel at the Old Colonial, on Dunbottle Lane, on Sunday, October 22.

The MP, who was appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Ministry of Defence in 2022, said:

“It was an honour to be the guest speaker at this important event, where I had the opportunity to meet some of our local veterans and to speak about my role with the Ministry of Defence and how proud I was to be involved in government legislation to protect armed forces veterans from vexatious legal claims.

“Mirfield has a long-standing tradition of supporting veterans, especially through the Royal British Legion and I look forward to continuing to support veterans affairs in my time as the local MP.“

The pub, run by Tim Wood, is renowned for its support of the area’s veterans and is now raising money for a meal at Christmas, as well as providing festive hampers.

Mr Wood said: “I would like to say a massive thank you to Mark. It is always nice when your local MP turns out to address important issues like veterans. It’s a nice sentiment and it is appreciated, whoever the MP is.

“He has gone out of his way for people and you can’t ask for anything better than that. He has taken a committed interest in what is going on within the community.”

Trafalgar Day, celebrated annually on October 21, marks the triumph of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Mr Wood added: “We are trying to get it resurrected as a national holiday. The tradition has been sidelined but we can’t change history. We should be having an extra day's holiday to commemorate Trafalgar Day. We should commemorate things.”