Photographic Reconnaissance Unit: National Memorial

Stewart Malcolm McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 9th November 2021 Westminster Hall

[Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Davies. In responding for the Scottish National party, I offer my full support on the issue that my hon. Friend the Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie), who really is a friend, has brought to Westminster Hall. He achieved a rare thing: he has educated the House. Although I am sure that we all read our briefs before the debate, I certainly learned more from his speech, for which I thank him.

I acknowledge the work of the former Member for Ochil and South Perthshire in first raising the issue when he was a Member. It will not surprise my hon. Friend that I do not necessarily share his disappointment at the result in that seat, as I was one of the main speakers at the big fundraiser to achieve the result that we did, but I do acknowledge that Luke Graham is a good person and he was right to bring the issue forward. For those of us who are acquainted with the Scottish Conservative group, it is no surprise that the issue is still alive with them, as it should be.

It is an anomaly that there is no national memorial and I am sure that can be rectified. As my hon. Friend mentioned, the PRU managed to gather more than 20 million images that were used to secure the victory in the war that the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) ended his remarks on. It has been mentioned that those images, which were vital to our success, were gained with no protection whatsoever. Mr Davies, can you imagine being sent over enemy lines under those circumstances? But they did not blink. They got up and did the job that they were asked to do. As the hon. Member for Strangford rightly said, they were a vital cog in the machine of the war effort.

In return, the PRU had one of the lowest survival rates of any unit during the war, with over 500 casualties, more than 140 of whom—I believe 144—have no known grave or marking. I am sure we all agree that that is wrong and is something we can resolve, not least because this is possibly the only debate I have attended in Westminster Hall where there is no financial ask of the Minister from whom we hope to hear positive responses.

I want to commend the work of the Spitfire AA810 Project to secure that national memorial. I pay tribute to their tenacity, their resolve, their imagination and their determination to ensure that that national memorial is forthcoming. As has been mentioned, all of us are sitting here wearing red poppies, rightly so at this time of year. This is a useful time, not just to reflect on those who were part of that war effort, as we have done this morning, thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, but to recommit ourselves to the values that created that world we inherited, and that the men of the PRU and so many other parts of the war effort secured for us.

That is a useful thing to do, given geopolitics right now, particularly in Europe. We must always have robust political debate, discussion and disagreement. I suspect, Mr Davies, that you and I do not agree much on those affairs. What we do agree is that we must remember and be grateful for those who sacrificed their lives to ensure that we could have the kind of exchange that we enjoy. What better way to recognise the efforts of the PRU than to rectify the injustice of having no national memorial by securing one in a fitting place?

I offer full-hearted congratulations to my hon. Friend and the Backbench Business Committee for allowing this debate to take place. I hope that we can hear of positive developments from the Minister.