Rob Wilson's Westminster Diary, November 12, 2009

Rob Wilson MP • Published 12 Nov 2009 09:00 0 Comments

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I KNOW that Britain has changed in recent years, with people displaying more openly their emotions, some suggest as a result of Princess Diana.

I sometimes feel like I'm from a bygone age emotionally as I was always taught the public virtue of the British 'stiff upper lip'.

Be that as it may, I have found this week to be a particularly moving one.

Remembrance Sunday at Brock Barracks was particularly poignant with the number of soldiers killed or injured in Afghanistan growing.

The following day I made a point of seeking out the crosses in the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey of the brave men we have lost from Reading.

I felt it more important than ever to remember them, pay tribute to them and offer my prayers for them and their families. What our armed forces do for this country is utterly remarkable.

I also joined fellow MPs in the Reading area to support the campaign for a memorial to Fred Potts, who was awarded the Victoria Cross during the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War.

The VC is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. He was obviously a remarkable man when one listens to what Private Potts did to save fellow Reading man Arthur Andrews.

Again it is a moving and heroic tale of selflessness and courage, and surprising that it has not been recognised in some sort of memorial before.

I would thoroughly recommend the BBC Radio Berkshire programme which recalled the story in detail. I am sure you can play it back from the website.

Also this week I held a meeting with the police, CPS and the family of Tyson Brown, who died in tragic and controversial circumstances back in 2005.

Without going into the case itself or details of the meeting, I was moved by the quiet dignity of Tyson's mother, Sharon, despite being very angry about the circumstances of her son's death.

I could say exactly the same about Jim Alston, whose son, Bobby, died in a motorbike 'accident'.

Sometimes the justice system appears to favour the perpetrators rather than the victims and it means that families suffer more than is necessary as they fight the system.

For these and other reasons this has been a particularly moving week.

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