Lib Dems pledge £10m for mental health of military veterans

Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to double the cash to help military veterans overcome problems such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown was in the garrison town of Colchester to promote the promise. It amounts to a £10m boost for servicemen and women suffering from mental ill health.

Mr Ashdown served with the Royal Marines for more than a decade before becoming a politician.

Click below to watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Kate Prout

The Lib Dems say the funding for military veterans would form part of the extra £3.5 billion that the party announced in March would be spent on mental health care in England over the next parliament.

The Lib Dem measures would include:

  • Creating a veterans commissioner to get veterans the help they need

  • Support for alcohol and drug misuse

  • Services such as community-based therapy, short-stay hospital treatment, a telephone support line and more targeted employment support.