World Suicide Prevention Day: UK veterans minister Johnny Mercer admits he takes every war hero's suicide 'personally'

Dedicated Dan Arnold and Stephen James were praised by the Tory MP for setting up Southsea-based forces support network All Call Signs.

The duo, who have both suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), founded the charity following the death of their friend, special forces hero Danny Johnston, who killed himself in May 2018.

Since then they have gone on to become a shining light in the battle to improve mental health services for military veterans, lobbying government for change.

Joining the pair in an online interview to mark World Suicide Prevention Day today, Mr Mercer spoke frankly about the challenges still faced in curbing the number of forces heroes killing themselves.

‘If I had a network like yours across the whole country, my job would be a lot easier,’ the former army officer told the pair. ‘Your approach is working.’

The meeting comes following a recent surge in suicides of Afghanistan veterans, with 14 killing themselves between February and March this year.

The situation prompted a pledge from Mr Mercer, who vowed to investigate the situation further while looking to roll-out additional support for veterans.

But speaking to Mr Arnold and Mr James, the minister – who heads up the government’s newly-created Office for Veterans’ Affairs – said the coronavirus pandemic had delayed this key work, which he now hopes to complete ‘by Christmas’.

‘The state has stepped up through a number of programmes but we have more to do,’ he said. ‘I have to get more money into more programmes to make sure when we do go over waiting times we’re quicker to react.

‘It’s a relentless march and a relentless pursuit. Every time someone takes their life or somebody feels like there is no help...I take it personally because I’m trying to design a system where nobody gets to that position; every time someone takes their life or gets to that position, I have failed.’

In a frank admission, Mr Mercer said more clarity and ‘communication’ was needed to help signpost vulnerable veterans to the support on offer.

He added better access to key support and provisions was still needed and said he hoped to create a ‘world-class’ service by combining the best systems already set up in places like Canada and the US.

SEE ALSO: Investigation by The News into veteran suicide crisis scoops top award

‘We will get there,’ Mr Mercer vowed, adding: ‘If you imagine where veterans care was in 2003, 2004, 2005 when this started, we are light years away from that.’

Stephen Morgan, Labour’s shadow armed forces minister – who has supported previously calls by The News to improve support for ex-troops – said a ‘simple change’ that ‘would save lives’ of war heroes would be to ‘record veteran suicides’.

‘Despite calls from the former commander of operations in Afghanistan, the former head of the armed forces, the opposition and swathes of veteran’s organisations ministers still refuse to commit to making this change,’ said the Portsmouth South MP.

‘There has been enough waiting. There have been enough words. On Suicide Prevention Day, government must commit coroners to recording veteran suicide to pave the way for bespoke mental health support.’

Mr Arnold, who was confident the Tory minister would deliver and has put his faith in him, said: ‘Johnny has been where we've been, he gets the issues and is passionate to see change. He's a strong ally to us and all veterans who need a helping hand.’

To watch the interview in full, visit All Call Signs’ Facebook page.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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