An open letter to Defence Minister Liam Fox

SIR,

As branch chairman of the Monmouth and Torfaen Constituencies for the UK Independence Party (UKIP), I am writing to you about my findings on my campaign trail about what the general public feel very passionate about and would like to see some positive changes to.

Servicemen in Afghanistan, Iraq and other far flung outposts should have a specialist hospital to be taken to.

I would like to say, at present, soldiers injured in action are returned to a hospital in Solihull, but there is an urgent need for a specialist hospital in the UK, to give injured personnel treatment.

There is a camp available at Crickhowell called Cwrty Gollen.

I was there for three months in 1961. Later on it was called the Welsh Brigade and this camp could be used as a British Military Hospital and could serve all of the UK's servicemen and women.

I am constantly in awe, as I'm sure we all are, of the magnificent work carried out by many of our medical facilities in this country, including the badly overburdened Selly Oak Hospital and the recuperation centre at Headley Court.

I am writing to enquire if I may suggest that in view of the ever increasing demands on the country's existing recuperation facilities, that the spare unused capacity at the military facility at Cwrty Gollen would be the ideal place for the hospital.

If we did have the opportunity of building a hospital there, we wouldn't be looking for any monies from the government.

It would still be under army regulations and we don't want to buy it.

They wouldn't have to pay any money whatsoever, as this would be done by all the organisations throughout the country, and we would also be looking to raise the money from the lottery and this would be a continuation of funding the hospital after it was built.

We would within this be including all ex-servicemen who have been seriously injured and have no place to go.

Also, accommodation would be built for relations, ie parents, wives etc, to be able to stay there for servicemen who obtained a serious injury and needed to recuperate.

This accommodation would be free.

The site is situated quite close to Cardiff Airport and the site also has its own helicoptor pad, so transporting injured servicemen would not be a problem.

We have made enquiries and could get funding.

I look forward to hearing from you and do hope that the government will support us.

Gary Whitcombe

(Monmouth)