Lord Cryer
Main Page: Lord Cryer (Labour - Life peer)
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
We value our relationships with the Americans now, as then. The noble Lord makes a powerful point. It is vital that we do not simply focus on VE Day but look at VJ Day as well. The commemorations around VE Day will have a different tone, and there will be more community-engaged street events, and so on. We are clear that the sacrifices made by those who served across Asia and the Pacific will be at the heart of the commemorations.
Lord Cryer (Lab)
My Lords, I welcome everything that the Minister has said. However, a few noble Lords have mentioned that the events of World War II and the Holocaust are slipping from memory into history. It strikes me that that gives impetus to revisionist historians and Holocaust deniers to peddle their poison and chip away at its integrity. Does not this mean that these celebrations have to be more striking than in previous years in order that the memory is collectively imprinted on younger generations?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I reassure my noble friend that we are determined that that will happen. He noted the rise of antisemitism; it is a deplorable form of hate crime which the Government are committed to tackling, as well as to ensuring that everyone is able to worship and protest freely, to wear religious clothing and go about their lives in safety and security, irrespective of their background, faith or other characteristics.