Lord Hussain
Main Page: Lord Hussain (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
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.
Baroness in Waiting/Government Whip (Baroness Blake of Leeds) (Lab)
If we conduct our business appropriately, we will still have time for other Members to come in. We have not heard from the Liberal Democrats.
Lord Hussain (LD)
My Lords, I hope the Minister will agree that the role of the British colonies and the British Empire needs to be recognised. Our younger generation needs to be reminded of the role played by people from the British colonies, particularly the Indian subcontinent. I speak as somebody whose family member—my father’s elder brother—went to serve in the British Army. He left my father, aged 15, to look after the family and never came back. That is the kind of example from among those of us from those colonies who have settled in Britain. The new generation needs to be reminded of that.
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
Absolutely; the noble Lord’s point is well made. All our activities and events will focus on both the UK and Commonwealth experiences at the end of the war, ensuring that these commemorations resonate across the whole of the Commonwealth. We are engaging with the Commonwealth Secretariat to ensure that Commonwealth experiences are represented. We are actively engaging with embassies throughout the Commonwealth and collaborating closely with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on a global tour to honour and share the stories of those who fought in the Second World War. Colleagues in the FCDO and MoD are working closely with us on these plans. This will also be an important aspect of how this is addressed in schools and with young people so that all our pupils and young people recognise their own shared history, wherever their families were during the war.