Telford and Wrekin Veterans & Service Families
An Open Letter to Our Armed Forces and Their Families in Telford & Wrekin
My name is Mark Webster. Some of you may know me as a local Disabilities Advocate, but more importantly, I’m the father of a serving infantry soldier.
I’m writing today not as a political commentator or disability advocate, but as a worried parent and a veteran who knows what it’s like to rely on equipment that should protect you, not endanger you.
Recently, I wrote to our Member of Parliament, Labours Shaun Davies, about the grave dangers posed by the Ajax and Ares armoured vehicles.
The details are horrifying: doors that crush users, fuel tanks that fail, vehicles that shake themselves to pieces, and a safety culture that blames our soldiers for “user error” when the equipment itself is dangerously flawed.
I shared these specifics because they aren’t just rumours—they’re evidence-backed failures that put our sons, daughters, partners, and friends at immediate risk.
I received a reply from Mr. Davies. And I have to tell you, I was profoundly disappointed.
His response was polite. It was professional. It acknowledged that the issue is “serious.” But it was also completely and utterly empty. It was a masterpiece of political sidestepping.
Did he engage with a single one of the terrifying specifics I raised? The lethal door mechanism? The fuel stored on the back like a makeshift bomb? The 20,000-page manual nobody can use? The fact that components literally fall off during testing? No. Not one.
Instead, he told me there is a review underway, chaired by a Labour minister, and that the Defence Secretary will “take whatever decision is necessary” after it concludes. That’s it. That’s the sum total of the representation we got.
Let’s be clear about what this means. Our MP, whose job is to fight for us in Westminster, was presented with a dossier of failures that threaten the lives of our service personnel—including from his own constituency—and his response was to say, “I’ll wait and see what my colleagues in government decide.”
Where is the urgency? Where is the outrage? Where is the promise to pick up the phone to the Defence Secretary and say, “This stops now. No more money, no more deployments, until our soldiers are safe”?
His loyalty, in this crucial moment, appears not to be to the people of Telford who serve, or to the families who lie awake worrying. His loyalty is to the party line: “A review is ongoing. Trust the process.”
Well, I’m sorry, but when lives are on the line, “trust the process” isn’t good enough. When my son and his comrades could be trapped in a metal coffin because of a faulty hatch, “waiting for a review” is a dereliction of duty.
This isn’t just a national defence issue. The supply chain for these death-trap vehicles runs right through Telford and The Wrekin. This is a local industry issue. These are local jobs. And these are most definitely our local loved ones who will be forced to crew them.
Shaun Davies had a chance to stand up and be a champion for our armed forces community. He had a chance to demand immediate action, transparency, and a halt to the spending on this failed programme. He chose instead to send a bland, risk-averse email that commits him to nothing and protects him from everything.
Our service personnel deserve better. They deserve an MP who shouts their concerns from the rooftops of Westminster, not one who quietly files them away behind a wall of bureaucratic language.
I urge every one of you—families, veterans, and residents who care—to read his response and ask yourselves: is this good enough? Then, ask him directly: What specific, immediate action will you take to protect our soldiers from the Ajax? Will you demand the review’s findings be made public? Will you call for a spending freeze until it is safe?
We cannot afford polite inaction. The price of that is too high.
In solidarity,
Mark Webster
A concerned father and veteran
Telford & Wrekin
My name is Mark Webster. Some of you may know me as a local Disabilities Advocate, but more importantly, I’m the father of a serving infantry soldier.
I’m writing today not as a political commentator or disability advocate, but as a worried parent and a veteran who knows what it’s like to rely on equipment that should protect you, not endanger you.
Recently, I wrote to our Member of Parliament, Labours Shaun Davies, about the grave dangers posed by the Ajax and Ares armoured vehicles.
The details are horrifying: doors that crush users, fuel tanks that fail, vehicles that shake themselves to pieces, and a safety culture that blames our soldiers for “user error” when the equipment itself is dangerously flawed.
I shared these specifics because they aren’t just rumours—they’re evidence-backed failures that put our sons, daughters, partners, and friends at immediate risk.
I received a reply from Mr. Davies. And I have to tell you, I was profoundly disappointed.
His response was polite. It was professional. It acknowledged that the issue is “serious.” But it was also completely and utterly empty. It was a masterpiece of political sidestepping.
Did he engage with a single one of the terrifying specifics I raised? The lethal door mechanism? The fuel stored on the back like a makeshift bomb? The 20,000-page manual nobody can use? The fact that components literally fall off during testing? No. Not one.
Instead, he told me there is a review underway, chaired by a Labour minister, and that the Defence Secretary will “take whatever decision is necessary” after it concludes. That’s it. That’s the sum total of the representation we got.
Let’s be clear about what this means. Our MP, whose job is to fight for us in Westminster, was presented with a dossier of failures that threaten the lives of our service personnel—including from his own constituency—and his response was to say, “I’ll wait and see what my colleagues in government decide.”
Where is the urgency? Where is the outrage? Where is the promise to pick up the phone to the Defence Secretary and say, “This stops now. No more money, no more deployments, until our soldiers are safe”?
His loyalty, in this crucial moment, appears not to be to the people of Telford who serve, or to the families who lie awake worrying. His loyalty is to the party line: “A review is ongoing. Trust the process.”
Well, I’m sorry, but when lives are on the line, “trust the process” isn’t good enough. When my son and his comrades could be trapped in a metal coffin because of a faulty hatch, “waiting for a review” is a dereliction of duty.
This isn’t just a national defence issue. The supply chain for these death-trap vehicles runs right through Telford and The Wrekin. This is a local industry issue. These are local jobs. And these are most definitely our local loved ones who will be forced to crew them.
Shaun Davies had a chance to stand up and be a champion for our armed forces community. He had a chance to demand immediate action, transparency, and a halt to the spending on this failed programme. He chose instead to send a bland, risk-averse email that commits him to nothing and protects him from everything.
Our service personnel deserve better. They deserve an MP who shouts their concerns from the rooftops of Westminster, not one who quietly files them away behind a wall of bureaucratic language.
I urge every one of you—families, veterans, and residents who care—to read his response and ask yourselves: is this good enough? Then, ask him directly: What specific, immediate action will you take to protect our soldiers from the Ajax? Will you demand the review’s findings be made public? Will you call for a spending freeze until it is safe?
We cannot afford polite inaction. The price of that is too high.
In solidarity,
Mark Webster
A concerned father and veteran
Telford & Wrekin
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