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Eighty years ago, with Germany’s unconditional surrender, Britain and our Allies liberated Europe from the evil of Nazism.
This year’s anniversary celebrations might be the last chance to thank our Second World War heroes and hear from those who experienced the triumphs and tragedies of war and embodied the British spirit of courage and loyalty.
As we open a blank book of a future not yet written, it’s important to recall the old book now closing and remember how we got here, and the sacrifice it involved.
People carry with them the legacies of conflict. Our jubilation all those years ago was marked by the devastation of war, by grief for loved ones lost, or fear for those still overseas.
Because this was a war not just in Europe but felt and fought across the British Empire.
Millions of soldiers died on battlefields for our freedom. Millions of Jews were murdered in industrialised slaughter.
To honour the sacrifice of our armed forces, we must etch in our national memory what it is we fought for. And we must also learn from the fact that we fought at all.
It’s easy to think now that it was inevitable that Britain would fight or would win WWII.
Yet so many in Europe and in this country – bearing the scars of the last war – preferred to do a deal with Hitler.
To many at the time, the Chamberlain of 1938 and the Halifax of 1940 sounded reasonable.
However, within their argument of appeasement laid a fatal flaw: The idea that our interests are interchangeable with the despots and dictators threatening our entire civilisation.
Churchill’s resolve to fight and stand tall in the face of tyranny is now rightly lionised as the epitome of British virtues.
Defending our country against aggressors requires strength and clarity, not compromise.
It was Britain that led Europe’s initial resistance against the Axis, while the US stood isolated.
It was Britain that allowed free Europe’s armies to regroup with ours and America’s on our shores.
It was Britain whose soldiers landed on the beaches at Normandy and Sicily, and began the task of freeing the world.
It was only Britain’s courage and determination to fight that kept the torch of freedom alight and paved the way to victory in Europe.
Eighty years on, we live in increasingly uncertain times, with war once again on the continent, and a US once again isolating itself, criticising NATO, and demanding that Europe step up and fight its own battles.
If we want peace in Europe today and if we want to strengthen the Western Alliance in the face of uncertainty, we must never lose the Churchillian fighting spirit.
There is a fear shared by many in this country that Britain is in decline and that our way of life is under threat.
Even the very celebration of VE Day has been politicised – with one council even cancelling a parade because it was ‘elitist’, before ultimately u-turning.
Many of our cities are now low trust, with a lack of civic pride and community cohesion. Many people no longer recognise the towns and communities they grew up in.
And people wonder: Would Britain step up again?
Our record in Ukraine suggests we would. But in so many other ways, we seem less committed to the belief that fuelled Churchill, that our values are what made Britain and are worth fighting for.
We must protect what we hold dear and what made us great: Freedom of speech and expression, rule of law, citizenship, faith, and the absolute sovereignty of Parliament.
And we must restore patriotism and confidence in our heritage and culture.
Let us remember on VE Day the British values for which so many sacrificed their lives.
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