Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government plans to take to mark the commemoration of VJ Day 2025.

The Government has delivered a suite of commemorative activities to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day. This included a Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum delivered in partnership with the Royal British Legion. Their Majesties, together with the Prime Minister attended the event, which included a national two minutes silence and a spectacular tribute to veterans involving 400 members of the Armed Forces, the Red Arrows and historic aircraft from The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Veterans in attendance included Burma Star recipients, British Indian Army veterans and those involved in the Battles of Kohima and Imphal, as well as Prisoners of War held across the region and veterans stationed in the UK or Commonwealth countries, who contributed to the war effort.

The VJ commemorations commenced with a Downing Street reception to honour veterans, hosted by the Prime Minister. Government buildings and iconic sites were lit up to remember and thank those who fought in Asia and the Pacific during the Second World War.

To honour the significant sacrifices made in the Far East, the Government’s National Engagement Programme continues to run throughout the year. A new film and augmented reality experience and a paper crane initiative was launched by the Imperial War Museums.

The Government is continuing to work with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the For Evermore Tour and Arts Council England on funding local community-based commemorative activity around the UK in arts centres, libraries and museums. We will continue to promote a range of educational and cultural activities to help schools and communities to engage with the 80th year of commemoration, including through Our Shared Story, and the National Theatre’s year-long school engagement programme.

I visited Barnsley Civic and The Old Fire Station in Oxford, both contributors to the UK-wide programme in arts centres and libraries that is bringing communities together through creativity to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. To mark VJ Day, I also visited the Tower of London Poppy display and laid a wreath at the sunset ceremony at Memorial Gates.

Events to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day will conclude with a reception for veterans at Windsor Castle later in the Autumn