Sir Keir Starmer vows to keep dedicated Veterans Minister in Cabinet if Labour wins election

SIR Keir Starmer today vowed for the first time to keep a dedicated veterans minister in Cabinet if elected PM.

At a campaign event in Bury, Greater Manchester, the Labour chief and Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey pledged to put current and ex-servicepeople "at the heart of Labour's plans for defence".

1

Sir Keir told The Sun: "We will keep a veterans minister.

"I think it's very important and we've been committed to veterans for a long time.

“John Healy and I spend a lot of time with veterans.”

The opposition boss made the vow after delivering a defence speech at the Lancashire Fusilier Museum.

Flanked on stage by 10 vets standing as candidates for the party, he rejected claims that his top team is split on maintaining nuclear weapons.

Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Deputy Leader Angela Rayner have sparked fury for previously voting to discontinue Trident.

Meanwhile, dozens of Labour lefty candidates have admitted they want to get rid of subs.

But Sir Keir hit back that Trident “is a vital part of our defence” and pledged he’s ready to hit the nuclear button if need be.

He said: “My commitment to the nuclear deterrent is absolute.

“That is why I voted for it, that is why I changed this party and that is why it has been a number one issue for an incoming government.

“The shadow cabinet is behind me. We have changed how this party works.”

At his first campaign event of the week, the Labour chief also re-committed to repealing the controversial Northern Ireland Legacy Act.

The law gives amnesty to all historical inquests relating to the Troubles.

And it created an Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to take over all Troubles-era cases.

The legislation is opposed by all major parties in Northern Ireland.

Sir Keir said: “Having worked in Northern Ireland, it’s not the way to resolve this.

“It provides an amnesty for all sides, including terrorists.

“And I know that many people feel extremely uncomfortable about that.”

There was military-grade party discipline among veteran candidates, who spoke to reporters after Sir Keir’s speech.

They insisted Labour is a “changed party” that now British men and women in uniform to the hill.

Mike Tapp, the candidate for Dover and Deal, confessed he wouldn’t have stood under Jeremy Corbyn’s administration.

Louise Jones, who hopes to be the first female vet MP for her party, said: “When I look back at the previous Labour administration there was some really good stuff in the last manifesto - but for me it was all negated by values and standards fails that I was seeing.”