Former Paratrooper, Dan Jarvis MP, hosted a lunch with the 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment in the House of Commons on Monday. He was joined by fellow Yorkshire MPs Michael Dugher, Rosie Winterton, Kris Hopkins, Greg Mullholland and Andrew Murrison – MP for Warminster, home of 3 YORKS.

Jarvis, who served in The Parachute Regiment and who is now a South Yorkshire MP, invited representatives from the Battalion to Parliament before their deployment to Afghanistan next month.

He explained, “I’m always delighted to welcome members of our Armed Forces to Parliament and yesterday was no exception. The troops were given a guided tour of the parliamentary estate, followed by lunch and then tickets to watch oral questions to the Secretary of State for Defence, where I asked a question to the Defence Secretary about the departure from Afghanistan.

“I remember, from my time in the Army, that parliament can seem like a million miles away from the day-to-day life of a soldier. It is important that my colleagues and I, from all political parties, continue to show our troops gratitude for the work they do under the most difficult of circumstances.

“My hope is that our troops left knowing that the whole of Parliament is behind them and as I said to them today, they can be confident that all of us in Westminster are “urging you on and wanting you to succeed.”