Diolch yn fawr. Wrth gwrs, rydw i’n falch o fod yn rhan o’r ddadl yma heddiw, ac, wrth gwrs, ni fyddwn i ddim yn gallu anghytuno â’r ffaith bod angen i ni drin teuluoedd a chyn-filwyr gyda pharch. Yn wir, byddwn i’n disgwyl i unrhyw un sydd yn byw mewn cymdeithas waraidd—er efallai nad yw rhai o’r bobl yn America yn cytuno eu bod nhw’n byw mewn cymdeithas waraidd ar ôl neithiwr—i drin pobl gyda pharch ac i sicrhau bod pawb yn gallu cael ‘access’ i adnodd—yr hyn sydd ei angen arnyn nhw fel pobl sydd yn byw yn ein cymdeithas ni.

Rydw i eisiau bod yn gritigol i raddau, oherwydd eironi dadleuon fel hyn yw bod diffyg gweledigaeth gan Lywodraeth San Steffan pan fo pobl yn gadael y fyddin i roi adnoddau mewn lle ar y pryd hwnnw i gefnogi milwyr. Mae yna ddigon o arian o hyd i’w roi i gynlluniau fel Trident, i’w roi i gynlluniau arfog mawr, ond wedyn nid oes cymaint o gynlluniau i roi adnoddau i mewn i helpu milwyr sydd allan yn brwydro ar hyn o bryd a hefyd i roi adnoddau iddyn nhw pan maen nhw’n dod nôl o lefydd fel Irac ac Affganistan. Rwy’n credu bod yn rhaid inni drafod hyn yng nghyd-destun y drafodaeth yma, oherwydd mae’n hawdd iawn i’r Ceidwadwyr ofyn am fwy o arian a mwy o adnoddau o hyd, pan fo angen i Lywodraeth Torïaid San Steffan ddangos yn glir eu bod nhw’n deall y problemau cymdeithasol sydd yn cyd-fynd â’r sefyllfa lle mae pobl yn gadael y fyddin yn hynny o beth.

Rwy’n ei glywed e o hyd gan deuluoedd. Maen nhw’n dweud, ‘Roeddwn i’n disgwyl mwy gan y fyddin. Roeddwn i’n disgwyl mwy ganddyn nhw. Rydw i wedi bod yn rhan o’r teulu hwnnw am flynyddoedd ac wedi bod yn gweithredu o dan eu harweinyddiaeth nhw.’ Nid yw’r diffyg consyrn hwnnw ganddyn nhw yn rhywbeth maen nhw’n gallu cymryd heb emosiwn oherwydd maen nhw mor agos at y sefyllfa. Maen nhw wedi datblygu perthnasau nad yw’r un ohonom ni, efallai, yn deall, mewn sefyllfaoedd anodd iawn. Maen nhw wedi gweld pobl yn marw. Maen nhw wedi gweld eu ffrindiau yn dioddef. Felly, yng nghyd-destun trafod hyn, rwy’n credu bod yn rhaid inni gofio’r emosiwn a’r bobl tu ôl i’r trafodaethau yma.

Yn wir, er bod yna broblemau ar lefel San Steffan, mae yna sefyllfaoedd o hyd lle mae nifer o bobl a oedd yn y fyddin neu yn y lluoedd arfog yn ddi-waith, mae problemau iechyd meddwl ganddyn nhw ac mae angen cael digon o sgiliau iddyn nhw allu trawsnewid i ddod nôl i fywyd tu allan i fod yn y fyddin. Maen nhw’n dweud “‘I’m now a civvy. I have to become a civvy and live in civilised society’ eto”.

I do welcome the Conservatives’ support for the amendment that I put in relation to 65 Degrees North. I know I’ve e-mailed you all, asking if you’ll come on a trek to Snowdon or other mountains of Wales—I know some of you’ve been very positive in responding to me—supporting, going alongside some former veterans, many of whom are from my region, Neath Port Talbot in particular. One is from, I think, the Deputy Presiding Officer’s constituency, who now lives in Chester, Peter Bowker, who is an amputee from the Afghan war and who crossed the Greenland icecap unsupported recently. They will now be climbing the highest mountain of Antarctica in January. What they’ve said to me is, yes, you can give them all the counselling services in the world, but if they can find ways to be active again—because, obviously, a lot of their job is to do with being active—then they can feel that they are not lost to society and that they have something to give back. So, they do go into schools as well and they tell people about the realities of war. Of course, if you ever met Pete, you could see his passion for what he does. He goes into schools and says, ‘I’m not doing this to try and undermine what the army is doing, but I’m trying to tell you that this can happen to you and you will have to change your life as a result of it.’ That’s why I’m passionately in support of what they do.

The same goes for Change Step. Like I said yesterday, I was happy to give a proportion of my salary increase to them in Port Talbot because they do amazing work with services in relation to PTSD, and with the families also. One woman said that she suffered domestic abuse from her partner because he’d come back with such extreme PTSD. She had to try and see it in that way, but, of course, they couldn’t live together then, because he was creating so many problems for her and her family. So, I was very pleased to be able to support that charity.

The only reason why, briefly, I’ll say on the commissioner, we are saying we are not supporting it is I think we need to look further afield at other ideas. I’m not necessarily saying it’s a bad idea, but I think that we have to look internationally at what works, and we have to look at other concepts that we can try and put forward here in Wales, other ideas to help those in this particular sector, and ensure that they are not forgotten and that they know they’re an integral part of our community here in Wales.