My Lords, it is a great honour to open this debate. Values of patriotism, family and community are sometimes regarded as old-fashioned, but this milestone 80th anniversary of VE Day reminds us that they are as relevant today as they ever have been. I have seen at many events up and down the country one thing standing out: so many children involved, as well as people from all walks of life, with pride in our country, what we stood for then and what we stand for now. We often talk of what divides us, but the struggles and fights of the past give us the foundations and provide us with the social glue that binds us and hold us together. Britain must defend international freedoms now as it did then, and that is worth remembering. It is something of which we can all truly be proud.
I pay particular tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Christopher, who is not in his place but is I believe the only current parliamentarian to have served in World War II. I equally pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Soames, who is in the Channel Islands. What a great testimony he is to his grandfather in the work that he has continued. I also pay tribute to the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, and his grandfather’s role in VJ Day and beyond. As with the noble Lord, Lord Soames, I think both grandfathers would be extremely proud of their grandsons.
VE Day, 8 May, is one of the most iconic days in our history. At 3 pm, the nation tuned in as the Prime Minister, the right honourable Winston Churchill—our great leader of our greatest generation, who steered Britain through the war and built the allied coalition that defeated fascism—took to the airwaves and informed the nation that, yesterday morning at 2.41 am, German officials had signed the Act of unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces in Europe, declaring that day as Victory in Europe Day. Later, from a balcony in what is now His Majesty’s Treasury, draped with a union jack he addressed a sea of jubilant faces that filled every square inch of Parliament Square, Whitehall and the streets beyond. As Churchill held up a V for victory and people below him waved handkerchiefs, rattles and small union flags, small groups formed circles and danced, not unlike the pictures and footage we have seen this week of jubilant crowds and delighted children up and down the country, running around with flags in hand.
People rejoiced, having come through our nation’s darkest hour with courage, ingenuity and the Dunkirk spirit—through the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic, through punishing campaigns in north Africa and Italy, and through D-Day, Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. People rejoiced, with gratitude for all those who had delivered that victory, far too many of whom were no longer alive to share in it—gratitude for the brave soldiers, the pilots in sheepskin jackets, the courageous sailors of the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, the clever code breakers and intelligence officers, the ingenious engineers and industrialists, the firefighters, and all those who worked tirelessly on farms, in armament factories and in other crucial roles on the home front, including many millions of women, whose nation also needed them. They embraced a long-overdue opportunity and redefined their role in society for evermore.
My Lords, what an honour it is to follow the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, in this most apposite of debates. I thank him for moving the Motion to commemorate the final surrender of the malign Nazi forces and their acolytes, which brought to a conclusion such a notable period of this nation’s history. It is indeed, as it was then, a time of celebration, remembrance and deep reflection.
It was 80 years ago yesterday when our great war leader, the roaring lion, stood at this very Dispatch Box and announced to this Chamber—which was at the time the House of Commons—that the evil that had descended upon Europe had been defeated. This was, of course, the culmination of five and a half years of sustained and bitter fighting and unspeakable violence; five and a half years of the British public sacrificing so much in support of the war effort; five and a half years of families—virtually every family—being torn apart.
This week we pay tribute to our forebears who stood firm against the menace of tyranny, who did not and would not flag or fail, and who went on to the bitter end in defence of all of our freedoms. But it is the events of the week leading up to that eventual surrender of the German forces that I would like to reflect upon today.
On 5 May 1945, a Lieutenant S Charlton of the 53rd Reconnaissance Regiment was instructed by his commanding officer to investigate reports of a concentration camp nearby their posting just outside Hamburg. Lieutenant Charlton was the first British officer to arrive at Neuengamme concentration camp. What he uncovered there was demonstrable evidence of the repugnant wickedness of the Nazi regime, a horrifying microcosm of the very reason why it was so vital to overcome the enemy. After cautiously approaching the camp, he found it deserted apart from a lone police officer guarding the entrance. As he was inspecting the barracks, he encountered two former prisoners who offered to guide him through the camp.
My Lords, only the oldest of us can remember VE Day—still less the Second World War itself. Exceptionally, the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, will be able to remind us. For our grandchildren, this is relatively ancient history, and the issue for us is what aspects of that history we choose to emphasise. What lessons should we say they should learn from the chaos, the cruelty, the slaughter and the sacrifice, the final victory and the contested peace that followed?
The two world wars remain central to Britain’s national identity. My own grandchildren have been learning about them in school over the past year. We have taken them to the Western Front, to walk over the fields where in the spring of 1918 my 18 year-old father joined the Highland Division and lost so many of the friends he had trained with. We have taken them to Bletchley Park, where my parents-in-law worked during the Second World War. We tried to explain to them what it meant to my mother to lose her younger brother—my godfather—when his Lancaster crashed on a training flight. For all of us, linking historical narratives to personal stories is a way to help the younger generation understand the past.
I have been struck by how quickly my grandchildren understood that neither war was one in which Britain actually stood alone. There are monuments to Canadian and Australian troops on the Western Front, and we saw references to French, Portuguese, Indian, Moroccan and Belgian troops alongside the British, and to the Chinese Labour Corps that maintained British tanks in 1918 and dug trenches and graves. Some 20 years later, Poles provided crucial help for decryption in the early stages of Bletchley Park, and an American contingent arrived there in 1942. There were Polish fighter squadrons in the Battle of Britain, when Britain was “standing alone” against the German threat, and I was surprised to discover when we visited the Yorkshire Air Museum that there were a great many Belgian pilots in Bomber Command.
My Lords, I too join in all the fulsome expressions of praise for and amazement at the bravery and efforts made by so many, both in and out of uniform, to contribute to victory—victory in Europe and, following the use of nuclear bombs, victory in the Far East.
If I may be permitted a brief personal reflection, I was two weeks short of my 10th birthday when the war started in 1939. I was living in Dublin. The Irish Free State, as it then was, was determined to remain neutral, and did so throughout the conflict—but that did not stop many thousands of my fellow countrymen crossing to the UK to volunteer and join one of the three services. My father had lost all of his right leg in the First World War, otherwise he too might have wished to join up again. But for myself and my sister, life continued much as usual. There was no food rationing. We had recently acquired a family car, but it was on blocks, as petrol was unobtainable. A very few cars had been converted to run, rather reluctantly, on gas, and they required an enormous storage balloon on their roof for fuel. For us and the rest, we depended mostly on trams and bicycles or, in the countryside, ponies and traps to get about.
For many of our age, life continued with but few changes from before the war started. We can contrast that with the destruction to life and, at times, the sheer terror of those exposed to the blitz, and those who lost loved ones. Many children living in the Home Counties were evacuated and separated from their parents and friends—an experience shared by a friend of mine of over 50 years’ standing. Meanwhile, in Ireland, we and our contemporaries seemed by and large distant from defeats and victories as they unfolded. News coverage was by newspaper or radio only, as TV had yet to reach into Ireland. I have no recollection of being encouraged to listen to news bulletins.
I doubt that today’s youth would be able to remain as detached as we and other young people in southern Ireland were in the early 1940s. Media in all its guises today tends to keep one’s undivided attention on what is happening, especially if were of the scale of another world war or major conflict. But it is also true that the direction of the media coverage has so much bearing on what is highlighted or what may be, as it were, left to one side. Media management of coverage has such an important part to play in so much of life today. The real challenge is that the truth it purports to relay is truly the same truth, whether it comes from the front line, a command headquarters or one or more of the nations’ capitals involved in the conflict. Any difference becomes the story of itself, and is ever more difficult to manage as the speed and global nature of information expand. Maybe this is a new challenge for AI. It is all too often a cause of serious, if passing, embarrassment, and more, for those involved.
My Lords, it is a privilege to be making my maiden speech today. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, for opening this debate and for the encouragement for us to mark and reflect such an important anniversary. It is an honour to follow such moving speeches.
Before saying any more, I take the opportunity to thank the many Members and staff of your Lordships’ House who have made me feel so welcome. I have been struck by the care that has been shown to help me to find my feet, and I am most grateful for the time taken to do so. I have been Bishop of Peterborough for just over a year, following four years as Bishop of Southampton, and I hope to bring experience from both dioceses as I take my place among your Lordships.
As we have heard, the 80th anniversary of victory in Europe and victory over Japan has been marked in our communities in a number of different ways. Across Peterborough diocese, there have been street parties in Northamptonshire; bunting in the beautiful villages of Rutland; and bells of churches ringing out, including from Peterborough Cathedral, which has always been a place of gathering at times of national significance and last night played its part again, drawing people together and helping them to remember.
It is the theme of remembering that I would like to focus on. Having begun full-time ministry as a family and children’s worker over 20 years ago, I have been inspired by young people and the work that goes on in our local schools. As the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, said, it is so important for our children to understand the past. One of the most moving experiences that I had in parish ministry was an annual joint remembrance service that took place with our elderly midweek congregation and the year 2 children of our local church school. This was a genuine collaborative exercise, and each generation learned from it. For the seven year-old children, it brought to life their study of World War II, when they could hear personal stories of those who had lived through it, speaking to a woman who had been an evacuee or a gentleman who had served in the Army. The school lesson came alive for them, because these personal stories have power, like the one that the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, has just shared. For our seniors, it was a time for them to share their stories, to be listened to and to be given permission to talk about the hardships of their time. But there was more going on; as they listened, they could hear the hopes of young children, who in their own short lives already knew of recent conflicts, some of which were having a direct impact on two or three of them.
My Lords, it is an honour and a privilege to follow the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Peterborough in this important debate. She brings not just a deep and abiding faith and a passion for community development, the growth of parish congregations and the pivotal role of young people in communities, in two dioceses, but her own personal experience, having been brought up in a rectory, and of working as a manager in the NHS. I have no doubt that she will make a hugely valuable contribution to this House.
This week and these proceedings are very much about memory and commemoration. It is my privilege to chair the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust and the Memorial Gates foundation and Memorial Gates Council. We in the trust are very much about ensuring that Sir Winston Churchill’s personal papers are available and accessible to the nation and the world. Many Members of this House will recall that the Memorial Gates was founded by the late and much-loved Baroness Shreela Flather, who sat for so long on the Benches opposite and who gave so much to our nation’s life. But her enduring gift was the Memorial Gates, which highlight and commemorate the particular contributions of the Commonwealth—and the Asian, African and Caribbean Commonwealth in particular—to the service of this nation. They need to be remembered. But both the archive trust and the Memorial Gates Foundation are not just about remembering of individuals, their service and in many cases, their ultimate sacrifice; they are also about remembering the cause which they served and the reason for that sacrifice.
That cause was most succinctly laid down in the Atlantic Charter, to which reference has already been rightly made. We hold in the archive trust—you can go and look at look at it on the website at any time; it is available generally and globally, and is particularly accessible to schools—the original documentation and the writings of Sir Winston around the charter. The charter represents the causes of self-determination, sovereignty, freedom and justice—the very causes that are at stake in so many places in our world at this time, and particularly on the continent of Europe.
My Lords, I have been a Member of this House for 33 years, and I can tell the noble Baroness that I made exactly the same mistake. I was sitting on the Cross Benches and jumped up and made a speech in exactly the same way as the noble Baroness, and the noble Viscount, Lord Falkland, who was due to speak, did exactly what I did, which was sit down. Then, when I finished, he said, “The noble Earl made an excellent speech. What a pity he made it six places out on the speakers’ list”.
Rarely have I heard a Minister make such an effective and passionate opening speech for a government-led debate. I have to say, he is an absolutely excellent defence Minister, and I support everything that he said and his sentiments.
The VE 80 and VJ 80 days are a celebration of victory over our opponents in the Second World War. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity, alongside my noble friend Lord Soames of Fletching, to have represented our grandfathers at yesterday’s service in Westminster Abbey, and I am sure my noble friend shares my gratitude. I also very much enjoyed the maiden speech of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Peterborough. Sadly, I no longer live in her diocese.
Remembrance of the sacrifices made by British, Commonwealth and Allied servicepeople and civilians is key. We will remember them. But, in addition to remembering the sacrifices, hardship and cost, we must remember how we got ourselves into the Second World War. Of course, there are two main reasons. One was the effect of the Treaty of Versailles, and the other was the failure to rearm, or to rearm fast enough, in the face of an obvious threat.
We can easily understand why we were so reluctant then to rearm in preparation for war when the First World War was so terrible that no sane person would want to go through a war again. So, when we made our final ultimatum in 1939, our combat power when assessed by our opponent was insufficient to avert and avoid war—a point made so well by the Minister—and we paid a very high price for not rearming soon enough.
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On hilltops, people lit beacons as, in cities and towns across the country, friends, acquaintances and strangers, first united by a common enemy, were now united in joy. They came together to dance long into the night, celebrating the triumph of the allied forces over the axis powers and the triumph of hope over despair, of freedom over tyranny, and of democracy over dictatorship. Let that inspire us now as we face the challenges of today. This country will never step back from defending our freedoms and democracy. But Winston Churchill, in his own words, knew that we could allow ourselves, only a “brief period of rejoicing” and could
“not forget the toil and efforts that lie ahead”,
because Japan remained unsubdued. The conflict in the Far East, a far too often overlooked theatre of war where more than 50,000 British personnel were killed, would rage for a further four months. The contribution of so many of our Commonwealth friends and allies must not be forgotten. It raged until another allied endeavour, the Manhattan Project, brought the costly six-year conflict to a deadly and decisive end.
Today, we debate freely in the mother of all Parliaments, exercising the rights and freedoms secured by our parents, our grandparents and that generation then. If noble Lords will forgive my indulgence, this included Troop Sergeant Major Vernon Coaker, of 3 Commando—the uncle I never met. He stormed Sword Beach at 8.30 am on D-Day and helped to seize the critical bridges over the Caen canal and river. He cleared German forces out of the nearby village of Amfreville and was left in charge of his entire troop when his CO headed off to scout their next mission, only to return at 8.30 pm that evening to find Sergeant Major Coaker lying in the road near the post office, killed by an enemy mortar—killed alongside 4,441 allied casualties on D-Day alone.
Writing years later, his commanding officer, Captain Keith Douglas Ponsford, noted of my uncle: “We had lost a fine soldier, who had been in many 3 Commando operations, including the attack on Saint-Nazaire”. My family’s story, shared by so many others—no doubt including many in this Chamber, as well as across our country—is one that reminds us all of that sacrifice. I will never forget that grave in Ranville War Cemetery, near Caen, alongside many other graves, which states: “God bless Sergeant Vernon Coaker, killed on 6 June 1944, aged 23”.
Eighty years later, this generation has become the latest to come together to thank our greatest generation. On behalf of the Government, but I know also on behalf of all of us here, I thank all those up and down the country who have organised and been involved in the commemorations over recent days. In particular, I thank colleagues in the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport and the MoD, members of our Armed Forces who have been out in all their splendour—what a great credit they are to our nation—the amazing staff of the Royal British Legion and other military charities and associations, and the organisers of street parties and events right across our nation.
Today, it is incumbent on us not only to reflect on and appreciate the millions of individual sacrifices that secured our freedoms, but to learn lessons about our security, solidarity and service that will serve us well in this dangerous era in which we live. On security, Neville Chamberlain quickly became shorthand for the folly of appeasement. Over time, more and more historians have convincingly pointed out that Britain was in no position to stand up to Hitler in September 1938. The lesson today, which needs to be fully understood and is accepted by many of us, at least, is that, if we want peace in our time and in the future, we can never again take our eye off the importance of deterrence, particularly as potential adversaries arm themselves to the teeth.
That appreciation underpins our review and, should President Trump be successful in his efforts to bring peace to Ukraine—we hope he will be—enhanced deterrence in Ukraine and across Europe and NATO will be the decisive factor in securing peace in Europe again and preventing further Russian aggression. As we celebrate VE Day, let us also remember the strength and courage of the Ukrainian people and all those who have supported them in resisting the illegal invasion of their territory.
The second lesson from the war that I want to touch upon is solidarity: the importance of solidarity with our allies, the importance of solidarity with those who serve—some here will know about that better than me—and the importance of the solidarity of our nation. The wartime platform given by Germany to Lord Haw-Haw illustrates the enduring power of propaganda. I believe that it is incumbent on all of us, in this Chamber and beyond, who love this country and believe in Britain to ensure that the British people are in no doubt: our solidarity is under ongoing, sustained attack from today’s propagandists and armies of bots, armed with infinite supplies of disinformation, under the command of adversaries like Russia and other states working against our interests. It should never take a war for us to speak out about such attacks and the fact that we will defend ourselves against them. Like previous Governments, we are alive to this threat, which is an existential one. Our review will guide us as we step up work to counter it.
The other lesson that I want to draw is about service: it is about the power of individual and collective service, and valuing those who serve. The relentless determination of that war generation, who gave their blood, toil, tears and sweat—and, indeed, their lives—over six long years, was summed up by Churchill when he said: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts”. We must have that courage, will and determination, and, even many years after, we must listen to the words of Churchill as they ring down the ages. Our current Armed Forces are full of people who have these and other war-winning qualities in abundance. They are people who have stepped forward to serve, with the support of families who also sacrifice to facilitate the long deployments and frequent moves that service life can entail.
We all need to realise this threat today. Too few people who are going about their busy lives perhaps truly appreciate that, and this VE Day celebration gives us all the chance to understand those sacrifices made on our behalf. We are determined to change that, and we are working with the support of others to ensure that the Armed Forces covenant is fully implemented. We are, with the support of Parliament, appointing an Armed Forces Commissioner as an independent champion tasked with improving service life. This is also why commemoration is so important. We must remind each generation of the sacrifices made in the past for our freedoms—sacrifices that are still being made today by members of our Armed Forces and the families who support them.
The end of World War II marked the beginning of a new chapter, a chapter written by the men and women who turned our darkest hour into one of our finest hours; men and women who had witnessed the absolute worst of humanity—as my noble friend Lord Dubs can no doubt tell us about—and the worst of what people can do to each other, but were determined to use their hard-won freedoms to build a better future. They were the architects of the United Nations, of NATO and of greater European co-operation, while at home, they built homes for heroes, the NHS and the welfare state. They built global institutions and improved lives in Britain, in an attempt to ensure that the sacrifices of that generation would be honoured, never forgotten, never repeated. Today, we come together to remember and honour the proud legacy of our greatest generation and recommit to upholding it. Is it not that recommitment, that determination, that pride, that gives us the hope and belief that this great nation is once more the standard-bearer for freedom and democracy?
Just think of it: what a tribute that is to those who have served in our service. It moves us all. As we put down the flags, banners and slogans, let us once again remind ourselves that we will never put down our values; we will always stand up for those values. That is what makes this country great. On days like this, it reminds us of what unites us.
I am very proud to move this Motion today, and I know it is supported by everyone across the House. What a great country we are, and what a brilliant celebration we have had over the past weeks. Communities have come together, standing up for those things that bring us together—notwithstanding some of the debates and arguments that take place. Think of our reputation across the world as the pictures of the King saluting the troops and others as they came down the Mall were shown, of the public cheering and of the various events across our nation, which have shown that the great nation we are still exists. I beg to move.
Lieutenant Charlton recounted in his report that he stumbled across a building that, at first glance, he believed was a butcher’s shop or a dairy. It was not. Later, the building was found to have been a medical experimentation centre where Dr Kurt Heissmeyer had undertaken live experiments on 20 Jewish children towards the end of 1944. Those children were injected with tuberculosis, operated on and eventually hanged at the Bullenhuser Damm school on 20 April 1945, just weeks before the arrival of British troops and the liberation of Neuengamme. Charlton remarked in his report that the place appeared to have been thoroughly cleaned. He found only rubber gloves and what he took to be a preserved human heart in a bottle.
From the records salvaged from the camp and the testimonies at the later war crimes trials, a more comprehensive account of the horror that occurred at Neuengamme was pieced together. The camp was built in 1938 by 100 inmates transferred from Sachsenhausen. Prisoners were forced to work in weapons factories, in mines, on building sites or on the railways, labouring under the most inhumane of conditions. Evidence collected by the British Army of the Rhine’s war crimes group described the almost complete absence of footwear and the transportation of prisoners too sick to work to the death camps for their ultimate and untimely murder. Overall, it is estimated that at least 42,000 prisoners died at the camp. But since the SS destroyed most of the records, in reality we will never really know how many suffered there.
Neuengamme was just one of the many concentration camps liberated by allied troops throughout 1945. The stories uncovered by brave British, American and Soviet troops, and the testimonies given by those who suffered so terribly, ensured that Nazi war crimes did not go unpunished and guaranteed that they could be shared for all prosperity, if for no other reason than to ensure that such horror was called out so that it should never be countenanced to happen again. As early as 1940, in his “finest hour” speech, Churchill warned of
“a new dark age made more sinister … by the lights of a perverted science”.—[Official Report, Commons, 18/6/1940; col. 60.]
He saw clearly the evil of Nazi rule and what it was, and nobly led our nation—along with our stout allies—throughout the storm of war.
It was two days later, on 7 May 1945, that Germany finally capitulated. The Soviet army had already taken Berlin and Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery had accepted the surrender of German forces in north-west Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. Facing mounting pressure on all fronts, General Jodl arrived in Reims at the behest of Admiral Dönitz to offer the unconditional surrender of all German forces. The final instrument of surrender was then signed in Berlin the following day, with Air Marshal Arthur Tedder, later a member of your Lordships’ House, signing on behalf of the allies. The war in Europe had come to an end.
Across Britain, church bells rang out in recognition of the enormity of the occasion. Victory in Europe was declared. The British public jubilantly poured on to the streets, as the Minister mentioned, to celebrate their victory over Hitler’s forces of fascism. The victory was momentous, but the cost had been terrible and enormous. Some 383,600 British troops were estimated to have lost their lives. There had been 1.7 million casualties from across the Commonwealth. For many, those bells must have rung hollow.
On this very day 80 years ago, as has just been mentioned, Nazi forces were expelled from the only occupied territory in the British Isles. Throughout the war, the occupied Channel Islands had faced severe repression, with satellite camps of Neuengamme established on Alderney. The liberation of our dear Channel Islands was completed when British soldiers from HMS “Bulldog” and HMS “Beagle” landed on Guernsey and Jersey. Across the islands, the union flag was hoisted and the crowds spontaneously sang the national anthem. Liberation Day is still to this day celebrated in joyous fashion every year on 9 May on those islands.
From the balcony of the Ministry of Health, 80 years ago, Churchill reminded the nation:
“This is not victory of a party or of any class. It’s a victory of the great British nation as a whole. We were the first, in this ancient island, to draw the sword against tyranny”.
Those words are ever more pertinent today. War has returned to Europe. An ascendant autocracy threatens sovereign nations, and poisonous ideologies pervade our politics. If there were ever a lesson to be learned, it is that we British can never appease a tyrant. Our Ukrainian brothers and sisters are valiantly resisting invasion—fighting, as we once did, for their homeland and their freedom—and we are there to support their struggle in the shadow of remembrance of 80 years ago.
In these troubling times, we must once again stand firm against tyranny and express great pride in our Armed Forces. The Minister spoke so eloquently about our history and the importance of communal remembrance and reflection. This day, of all days, is also one of celebration of affirmative triumph over almost unspeakable evil. As His Majesty said last night, we must never forget those who delivered that triumph. My Lords, we will not.
The Imperial War Museum’s display on World War II shows us something of the Caribbean contribution to Britain’s war effort, in all three armed services. I felt it underplayed the importance of the 2.5 million Indians in the British Imperial Forces, and the role Indian divisions played in Burma and the Eighth Army, fighting—alongside Polish and South African divisions, as well as the American Army—across North Africa and Italy.
Recalling this part of our wartime history matters because the descendants of those Allied soldiers and airmen have now become part of our national community. My parents-in-law are buried in a Bradford cemetery alongside well-kept Polish and Ukrainian sections, the latter containing the bodies of displaced persons—we used to call them “DPs”—unable to go back to their homeland as the Russians reasserted hostile control. I have met many Sikhs and south Asian Hindus and Muslims in Yorkshire whose grandparents fought for Britain in World War II, most of their grandchildren and neighbours unaware of what they did. This should now be an intrinsic part of our historical understanding of today’s British national identity.
What should we tell today’s children about why we fought the war, beyond the immediate threat of Nazism? We should teach them about the war aims that the British and Americans agreed on behalf of the world’s beleaguered democracies. The Atlantic Charter, drafted by the British and revised by the American President, declared in August 1941 that its countries
“seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other; … they desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned; … they desire to bring about the fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic field with the object of securing, for all, improved labor standards, economic advancement and social security”.
President Roosevelt’s speech to the US Congress earlier that year had spelled out why the United States was already acting as “the arsenal of democracy”. He said:
“We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point … that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world. … The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society”.
Yesterday, our Defence Secretary reminded us also of Ernest Bevin’s Western Union speech, delivered to the Commons on 22 January 1948 as the Cold War began to end the hopes that the victory of 1945 would lead to global peace. Bevin declared that
“the free nations of Western Europe must now draw”
closer
“together. … Our sacrifices in the war, our hatred of injustice and oppression, our Parliamentary democracy, our striving for economic rights and our conception and love of liberty are common among us all. Our British approach … is based on principles which also appeal deeply to the overwhelming mass of the peoples of Western Europe … If we are to preserve peace and our own safety at the same time, we can only do so by the mobilisation of such a moral and material force as will create confidence and energy in the West and inspire respect elsewhere, and this means that Britain cannot stand outside Europe and regard her problems as quite separate from those of her European neighbours”.—[Official Report, Commons, 22/1/1948; cols. 395-97.]
I listened to Nick Thomas-Symonds, our Europe Minister, also quoting those words a few weeks ago.
We all recognise how far short our world today has fallen from these ideal objectives. The current US President has repudiated Roosevelt’s international and domestic legacies. Globalisation has spread global prosperity but has also fed a degree of inequality within and between states which threatens social cohesion and leaves too many unfree from want. We are learning again the lesson of the 1930s that constitutional democracy and open societies are not the natural order. Populist politicians offer easier answers, and authoritarian regimes are hard to dislodge.
Our British public do not yet appreciate how difficult are the domestic and international challenges we now face. We have managed to hold taxes down by skimping on public investment and cutting defence expenditure to fund the rising cost of health and welfare for our ageing society. Now, we have to raise defence spending and engage our citizens in national security. The war in Ukraine is a threat to our security to which we must respond. The Chinese drive to dominate global manufacturing and high technology also requires greater public and private investment. Yet there are populists out there still pretending that taxes can be cut while spending more on defence and without cutting public services.
History does not repeat itself, but it does offer warnings. Our divided and complacent country in the 1930s was slow to respond to the threat of authoritarian fascism and Nazism. We now face threats to the liberal international order that Roosevelt and Churchill led the allies to build, and to the peaceful Europe that the end of the Cold War promised. Temporarily or permanently—we hope only temporarily—we have lost American support and leadership. It is our shared duty to work together to carry the public with us, and to work with our democratic allies, in Europe and beyond, to defend the principles for which our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents fought more than 80 years ago.
To finish, today we meet to remember with true admiration those who answered the call of duty—those who were prepared to sacrifice all for the freedom and democracy of future generations. As we, the beneficiaries, honour, salute and thank them, so must we all, as much now after 80 years as we did after a single year, remember them.
How do we change, how do we move on, if we do not remember and learn together? I suggest that putting ourselves into the shoes of others helps to turn an act of remembrance into something that can bring change for the future, as we learn from others. Peterborough diocese is linked with the diocese of Seoul in Korea, and our partnership is based on listening to one another and seeing life through the eyes of another. The Koreans’ experience of war and conflict has shaped their theology and their worship, and we can learn from that. Two years ago, I had the privilege to visit the Anglican Church in Burundi, and again heard stories of strife and struggle. We also met many young people who are determined to ensure that life is different in the future. They taught us much about the transformation of relationships across different social groups. Young people give us hope for a different future.
Across Peterborough diocese, there are 103 church schools, with more than 20,000 students. These are places where children are encouraged to develop values that they believe will help society, ways of living that will decrease conflict. One area that is being encouraged is that of courageous advocacy, promoting an ethos of action-taking, challenging injustice and becoming agents of change. As I play my part in your Lordships’ House, I hope to be involved in the work of education and family life, supporting children and young people to become those agents of change and play their part in shaping the world to be a better place. That would indeed be a tribute to the people we remember today.
We need to remember that cause. One man who did and who never forgot it was a member of the Royal West African regiment. His name was Joseph Hammond and he has written of his experiences in the 14th Army—our 14th Army of Great Britain in Burma. He served in that army; this weekend, he will be 100 years old, and his life and service will be commemorated in Ghana. I have had the privilege of meeting him—I grew up in the Gold Coast, which is now Ghana—and he has established a foundation, the heart of which is the cause of peace, development and education.
In memorialising, as we have done this week, surely one of the best things we can do is to make sure that, in the review of the curriculum that is currently taking place, the history and sacrifice, and above all the values that we are commemorating, are not lost for generations to come. That is something positive and practical we can do, and I hope that Ministers in responding will indicate that that will be their response to the review.
Joseph Hammond remembered the charter—self-determination, freedom and justice—and he, with other ex-servicemen of the 14th Army, coming back to the Gold Coast, then took part in the struggle for independence, because they took Churchill at his word. They fought for independence and they won, after a demonstration on 28 February 1948. Today in Accra, marking the spot where they demonstrated, there is a marble arch, and emblazoned on that arch are the words “Freedom and Justice”. That is what they fought for, what they won and what we must never forget, and we remember Joseph Hammond and all those others who died and who served.
In the 1970s, many of the masters at Stowe School, which I attended, had served with distinction during the war. They had plenty of MCs or equivalent. They absolutely drummed into us that war was to be avoided at all possible costs. Nevertheless, in order to deter, they took great care to ensure that we understood how to defend ourselves if necessary. The CCF was very important to the school and was, at least initially, compulsory. I recall the reverend Jos Nicholl MC playing a key part in it.
When I came to your Lordships’ House in 1992, most of the senior Members of the House had tasted defeat and been hungry. Many had served with distinction during the war, and I recall Lord Healey, Lord Carrington, Lord Runcie, Lord Mowbray, Lord Lauderdale and Lord Jellicoe, to name just a few. There was even Lord Houghton of Sowerby, who had served in the First World War. Those noble Lords would never do anything that would allow us to be defeated, or, to use military parlance, to be fixed, again.
Happily, now, none of our leaders at the top have tasted defeat or been hungry, but the post-World War order that the Minister referred to, which led to this comfortable situation, is breaking down. We need to remember what happens if we do not rearm fast enough in the face of a clear threat, and we need to do much more to educate our people about some very hard choices that will need to be made if we cannot very soon stop state-on-state conflict in Europe.