Queen's Dragoon Guards Freedom of City Speech, 11 July

Speech by Councillor René Kinzett, Leader of the Conservative Group on the City & County of Swansea on the occasion of the awarding of the Freedom of the City to the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards (the Welsh Cavalry).

My Lord Mayor, Lord Lieutenant, High Sheriff, Deputy Presiding Officer, General Mayall, Colonel Richmond, Distinguished Guests,Ladies & Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to support the motion that the City & County of Swansea confers Honorary Freedom to 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards.

Today, we are bestowing the highest honour within the gift of this Council.

We are bestowing this honour on a group of men and women who have shown the highest bravery in the most difficult of circumstances faced by the British Army in the last 50 years.

But, why do we choose to mark this gallantry and leadership with an honour that seems rather anachronistic and which perhaps owes more to the warfare and society of the 13th Century than the 21st?

We do this not out of the marking of some jingoistic fervour.

We are not celebrating some sham patriotic gesture or statement of support for a government policy.

We bestow this honour because it is right to do so.

It is right for us, as the Council of the City and County of Swansea, to recognise the dedication to duty and service to the Nation of the soldiers of the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards.

We should always remember that the armed forces do not set the aims of the mission they are engaged in.

But once set, we know that from the General of the Regiment down, the strategies are devised and the tactics executed to meet any mission set for them by their political masters in Westminster and Whitehall.

In return for their unquestioning support for any mission set for them, the Army must be able to rely on the support and loyalty of the British people.

We need to affirm and renew, from time to time, the Military Covenant.

The mutual obligation between the Nation, the Army and each individual soldier; an unbreakable common bond of identity, loyalty and responsibility which has sustained the Army throughout its history.

The responsibility to sustain this mutual obligation falls on each and everyone of us.

This Council and the citizens of Swansea take this responsibility very seriously indeed.

Regardless as to whether we have criticisms of Government policy with respect to the efforts to combat the insurgency in Afghanistan, politicians have an ultimate duty to show leadership in supporting our military personnel when they are engaged in deadly conflict.

I want every soldier within the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards to know that when they are fighting for this nation, they have the unstinting support and comradeship of this City.

I hope that we can show that our decision to the confer the Freedom of the City comes someway towards being a worthy gift of thanks for your bravery and dedication to service for our Nation.

I am therefore honoured and privileged to be able to support the Motion that the City & County of Swansea confers Honorary Freedom to 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards.