THIS Sunday I will once again participate in the most solemn and important event of my MP year when I will have the honour of placing a wreath, on behalf of Parliament, during the Devizes Remembrance Day service and parade.

Sadly I cannot be at every Service of Remembrance across the constituency, and I attend the services in Devizes, Marlborough and Tidworth on an annual rotation and ask a local councillor to lay a wreath on my behalf where I cannot be.

This year I am pleased that Cllr Mark Connolly will lay a Parliament wreath at St Michael’s Church in Tidworth and Cllr Stewart Dobson will do so at the war memorial in Marlborough.

While many of us come together at this time of year to commemorate the sacrifices of the fallen we must of course not forget that many people also maintain and tidy graves and memorials in villages and churchyards across the country and for that work you have my heartfelt thanks.

Sadly this year we do not have the wonderful display of poppies at the Tower of London which so caught the imagination of the nation in 2014, but I have seen many other fitting tributes including the huge five-metre diameter poppy made of fibre glass at King’s Cross Station in London.

Indeed there are so many different types of lapel poppies now available the proceeds of which go to support the amazing work of the Royal British Legion to support both serving and veteran personnel and their families.

In Westminster the fallen have also been commemorated by highlighting the personal stories of heroes in the Parliamentary Order Paper.

On November 3, 1915, Lieutenant The Hon. William Lionel Charles Walrond, Rail Transport Officer in the Army Service Corps, Member for the Tiverton Division of Devon, died in Scotland of consumption contracted while on service in France.

It is a great way to focus attention on the sacrifices that have been made to ensure our freedoms.

It is absolutely right that The Armed Forces Covenant has been enshrined in law and is a promise made by the government to ensure that the armed forces face no disadvantage as a result of their service.

I am especially pleased that serving personnel have been placed at the top of the priority list for the government’s £500 million FirstBuy scheme in England. The Forces Help to Buy pilot scheme also allows servicemen and women to borrow up to 50 per cent of their salary, up to a maximum of £25,000 to buy a home.