As I wrote this column, the Wagner “private army” was driving towards Moscow, with their leader demanding that the Minister of Defence and the Head of the Russian Armed Forces be replaced.

However that situation may have changed by the time you read these words, one thing I can say for certain is that the British Armed Forces would never behave this way.

While soldiers in Russia were turning against one another, Saturday, June 24, was a day of spectacular celebration in Falmouth for Britain’s loyal Armed Forces.

They cannot join a union, have no right to go on strike, and of course they face the risk of being injured or killed in the line of duty.

Yet regardless of which party is in power, they go wherever the Government of the day sends them, and they are world-renowned for their professionalism and skill.

One military wife I spoke to this week told me “I know it looks like a lot of money to spend on a big parade, but partners and children sacrifice so much by moving from base to base. They often feel like outsiders, and they worry for months on end when their loved one is away in action. So Armed Forces Day is just one day in the year for the community to say to those families, ‘We see you, we acknowledge your sacrifice, and we welcome you as part of our community’ and it’s great that Cornwall is willing to make that statement.”

This conversation convinced me that Armed Forces Day is an important mark of respect and gratitude from the country to those who serve it, but does our Government demonstrate that respect on the other 364 days of the year?

In 1996, the Conservative Government privatised Service Family Accommodation, leaving tens of thousands of Armed Forces families with cold, damp, poorly maintained homes.

Over £6-billion has been spent on two new aircraft carriers, one of which broke down within months of being launched.

Just two years ago, Boris Johnson tried to scrap all of the UK’s tanks, claiming that land wars in Europe were a thing of the past.

Even today, £30-million per year is spent on maintaining decommissioned nuclear submarines, most of which sit at Devonport dockyard, but there is still no plan or funding in place to actually dismantle them or remove the nuclear fuel rods.

Over the past decade, the size of the Army has been cut by the Conservatives from 97,000 to 76,000 and there are plans to cut it further still.

The Conservative Government is spending a record amount on Defence, but a series of terrible decisions by Ministers has left our forces in a weakened state, unable even to provide decent homes for their families.