Turning the Tide against Nazism
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S2M-1302, in the name of Trish Godman, on turning the tide against Nazism. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament wishes to place on record its abiding gratefulness to those fellow Scots who, some 60 years ago along with their comrades from the allied nations, turned the tide and destroyed the evil of Nazism and fascism in Europe and, in bringing an end to that terrible war, assisted with the new accord within Europe that has eventually, and not without struggle of a different kind, led to the European Union of 25 nations, based upon equality and fraternity that has, as one of its major aims, the elimination of poverty within its member states and elsewhere in the world.
I am genuinely pleased to lead tonight's debate on turning the tide against Nazism. The debate enables the Scottish Parliament to offer its sincere tribute to the Scots who were part of the allied victory over Nazism all those years ago. Many of those young Scots and others who served in that war died before they were in their twenties.
Consider this. On Saturday 6 December 1941, Nazi soldiers ordered the Wolf family on to a train. From their home in Hamburg, two-year-old Dan, his mother and his maternal grandmother were transported 600 miles to a concentration camp in Riga, Latvia, where they were put to death. They were just three of the 6 million Jewish citizens who were put to death just for being Jewish. Such was the evil regime that was destroyed by the millions of courageous men and women who took part in that war. However, let me say that I thought that it was wholly inappropriate and inept of President Bush to draw a parallel between the war against the Nazis and his invasion of a weak but oil-rich Arab nation.
The veterans who were in Normandy this week helped to bring about the beginnings of a new democratic Europe. Whenever I visit Erskine hospital in my constituency—apart from spending a small fortune in the garden centre—I am always deeply impressed by the innate modesty of those who contributed to the defeat of Nazism in Europe. Many of the younger veterans tell me that they never believed that they would live to see the demolition of the Berlin wall and the reunification of the two Germanies.
What a different Europe we see today. We have a Europe of 25 member states, some of which until recently were oppressed satellites of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the 60 years since the Normandy landings, Europe has witnessed the destruction of Nazism, the immense bravery of President Tito and his compatriots standing up against that monster Stalin, the Hungarian uprising of 1956, the Prague spring of 1968 and the transformation of Germany into a major democratic nation that is at peace with France and its neighbours. We must also remember the many outstandingly brave German socialists, trade unionists and others who were put to death by Hitler.
It is important that we do not forget that, from its inception, the guiding principles of the European Union were of peace and friendship among European nations. That was the aim of the men and women who defeated fascism. It will be interesting to see the turnout in the new member countries in tomorrow's elections. All indications are that the turnout may be low. There is a serious disillusionment with Parliaments, political institutions and parliamentarians. Hence, I believe, comes the emergence of political extremists who seek to exploit that alienation.
I sincerely hope that Scots everywhere will reject the racist British National Party. It is a matter of deep regret to me that that loathsome bunch have set up their election headquarters in Port Glasgow in my constituency. I readily endorse the view that was expressed in last Friday's Greenock Telegraph:
"The fact that the British National Party are using Port Glasgow as their Scottish campaign headquarters for the European election does not necessarily mean that they have a lot of support in Inverclyde—but it is worrying nevertheless … Mainstream political parties must re-double their efforts to fight poverty and other issues which are exploited by the BNP for their own racist ends."
I thoroughly agree with those comments.
Why should we vote for an institution that is seen by many as unaccountable and as having few powers to check and balance decisions that are made by ministers? I believe that it is much better to stay in and fight to change the new, democratic European Union. We will get nowhere by standing on the touchline and whingeing. We must engage more actively with partner states. We should reject once and for all the xenophobic and racist appeals of the BNP and the UK Independence Party, which would take us out of Europe. I urge members to place their legitimate reservations on hold and to vote tomorrow to defeat xenophobia and racism, and to show our European neighbours, especially the new member states, that we are European.
I have received eight requests to speak, so I would be grateful if members could restrict their speeches to four minutes each.
I congratulate Trish Godman on securing this evening's debate and on the very eloquent speech that she made in support of the motion. As Trish Godman said, this is our opportunity to pay our respects and offer our thanks to those who helped to defeat Nazism and fascism in Europe.
My generation has not recognised enough the sacrifices that the previous generation made. Our parents lived through and fought in the war, but I bet that few of us are even aware of the horrors that they endured to ensure that we would live in a free, democratic Europe. My father was a Bevin boy and did not fight in the war, but I did not become aware of the level of commitment that had been shown by all my other relatives until I was much older. That says something about the generation that fought in the war. The Europe that has now been created is a union of 25 states and is truly that generation's legacy.
I watched some of the television coverage of the D-day events, which was extremely moving. I was struck by the dignity, humility and courage of the veterans. It is astonishing how they managed to return from the war to pick up their lives and to create a better society for themselves, never mind their children, to live in. These days, counselling is given as a matter of course to people who have experienced minor traumas. It is staggering that when the veterans came back, filled with the horrors that they had experienced, they got on with creating the kind of society that we have now.
Another point that struck me forcefully was the certainty of the veterans' belief that they were fighting a just war. Like Trish Godman, I was appalled by George Bush's attempt to link the second world war to what is happening in Iraq. The people who fought in the war believed that they had a part to play in ridding Europe of the evils of Nazism and fascism. Nazism killed millions throughout Europe in concentration camps—not just Jews, but communists, socialists, Gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally ill, the homeless and beggars. As a democratic Scottish Parliament and democratically elected politicians, we have an opportunity to ensure that at all times we argue for democracy and participation, as Trish Godman has done. We, the fortunate generation, must take a lead in rejecting fascism in all its forms today.
I congratulate Trish Godman warmly on her success in securing a debate on the motion.
It is worth our recalling that although it is a tremendous virtue to fight to the last ditch, it is not always a virtue to be in the last ditch in the first place. After his arrest by the Nazis, Pastor Niemöller made the famous statement:
"First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me."
It is right that this evening we should remember the countless sacrifices that were made in the cause of freedom, justice and humanity. We remember the young men in the battle of Britain, when Britain and the Commonwealth stood alone against the Third Reich and Churchill said:
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
We remember the suffering of the Russians at Stalingrad, where they lost 2 million men in their costly victory. We remember the sacrifice of the Americans at the battle for the Midway islands, when they won their first overwhelming victory over the Japanese navy. We remember the turning of the tide in the Mediterranean and north Africa in 1942, with the victories at Malta and El Alamein. We also remember the British agents behind enemy lines, many of whom were tortured and killed, and all those who participated in D-day and in subsequent campaigns.
We are proud that at Culzean castle, which is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, there is a small museum in honour of General Eisenhower, the commander-in-chief of all the British soldiers who were involved in the D-day landings. Through earphones, one can hear his D-day message to the oppressed people of Europe that their liberation was at hand.
As Trish Godman emphasised, we should remember not only the courage of the combatants but the plight of the involuntary martyrs. It is right to recall that, at a time when millions of civilians of Jewish origin, among countless others, were being murdered in circumstances too horrible to contemplate, a German of Jewish origin who had renounced his German citizenship and gone to America appealed directly to President Franklin Roosevelt. He recommended
"watchfulness and, if necessary, quick action"
by the USA in its research on the atomic bomb. His letter resulted in the Manhattan project and ultimately pointed the way to the end of the second world war. That man's name was Albert Einstein.
The motion mentions "abiding gratefulness" to
"comrades from the allied nations"
who "turned the tide" and brought
"an end to that terrible war".
It can truly be said that Albert Einstein, in his own quiet and modest way, played a significant part in securing that outcome.
I am now three times the age of many of the young men and women who lost their lives around the time of D-day, either on the beaches or behind enemy lines. Although I have been spared their ordeal, I can at least express intense gratitude that for our democratic freedoms, which we will exercise in tomorrow's elections, and for our tomorrow, they gave their today.
I congratulate Trish Godman on securing the debate. The members who have spoken so far have risen to the occasion.
One lesson that we can learn from the second world war is that its outcome was far from certain. We tend to think that those in history who won a war or triumphed in some way were bound to do so. However, any bookmaker would have laid odds on Britain losing the war in 1940. Although it became more likely that we would win once the Russians and the Americans entered the war, even an operation such as D-day might well have failed. To be brutal, I should point out that it succeeded only because the Russians had killed off a lot of the Germans already and had suffered enormously in the process. Whatever we might think of Stalin, we should acknowledge the vital contribution of individual Russians.
The second world war can be seen as probably the last just war, by which I mean that everyone recognised that certain people were on the side of goodness. Subsequent wars, such as the war that has just finished, have been more ambiguous and questionable. That said, we should acknowledge that sometimes there are clear-cut issues and that people are fighting for the right cause.
We have failed totally to generate the wartime spirit in peacetime, and we must learn how to do so. Perhaps Mr Bush tried to capture that idea when he began his war on terror, which was quite a good idea. However, he got diverted by starting a war on Iraq, which was a different issue. As I said, we have not succeeded in generating in peacetime the kind of inspiration and dedication that become apparent in wartime. Perhaps we need enemies in order to get really steamed up about something. For example, we might be able to create that spirit by making poverty the enemy at home and abroad; our failure to give adequate help to poorer countries is lamentable. We could make war not only on poverty, but on sorting out the inequalities and lack of opportunities in our own country, which would be much more difficult to do. We suffer greatly from a horrific and negative media that runs down everything and does not recognise any of the good things in our society.
In my view, we have timid political parties. That is not a party-political point—all parties are too timid because they are afraid of being gutted by the unfair media or by their opponents. The result is that, in order not to say anything that might be criticised, people do not say anything at all. We are letting down the democratic process, for which people fought and died in the second world war. We should have the courage of our convictions more and express them, excite people and together create a better society. I know that that is easier said than done, but I hope that we can generate the sort of spirit that won the war to help us win the peace.
I congratulate Trish Godman on securing the debate and on her eloquent opening speech.
We must recognise that every war represents a tragic failure in diplomacy. The sight of men marching off to war should always be a cause of profound regret. Nazism had to be defeated on the battlefield because it had not been confronted politically. In the decades that followed the first world war, the European allies were desperate to avoid a repeat of the conflict. However, in the way that they treated Germany and the restrictions that they put in the Treaty of Versailles they ensured that further tragic conflict was almost inevitable. That is a lesson for us in how to deal with the debt of countries around the world in order to avoid conflict.
I recognise the massive debt that we all owe to the young men and women who fought and died to rid the world of Nazism and fascism. However, we must also recognise the fundamental lesson that war takes place because politics and politicians have failed. Europe has been a battleground since time immemorial. Virtually every generation has known the misery and hardship of war, its financial cost and the cost in lives lost. My generation has been spared that misery because of organisations such as the European Union and the United Nations, which grew out of the failures of the League of Nations and the determination that wars like the second world war should never happen again.
Such a war has not happened because of the growth of the peace movement and because organisations such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Scottish CND have resisted the spread of weapons of mass destruction—the awful legacy of the second world war—and campaigned for peace. That is why I am concerned about the way in which the United Nations, which in many ways has been the guarantor of peace, has been ignored. Unilateral action in Iraq has taken place without proper UN support, which is a very worrying precedent for the UN system that I believe has protected the world from war during the past 60 years.
We should recognise the roles of the European Union, which is mentioned in the motion, and of the Council of Europe in building solidarity in Europe. As we know, the United Kingdom came late to the European club. Our previous attempts to join were scuppered, particularly in 1963 by the French, who believed that we were too close to the United States. Some things do not change.
In 1969, we were able to join the European Community. According to some commentators, particularly those on the Tory seats, it has all been downhill ever since. However, we must recognise the virtues as well as the problems of the EU. In the United Kingdom, all too often we regard the EU as simply a bunch of meddling Eurocrats who seek to regulate our bananas and outlaw the British banger. The view from continental Europe, where people recognise Europe's role in building collective solidarity and cultural and social unity, is very different. In many ways, that has been more important than the economic unification that has taken place.
The recent commemorations of D-day showed that the sacrifices that were made 60 years ago have not been forgotten. The presence of the German Chancellor at a service of remembrance in Normandy was significant. As Herr Schroeder pointed out, the allies liberated not only German-occupied Europe, but Germany, too. The enemy was Nazism, not the German people. The embrace between the French and German leaders demonstrated that and demonstrated the new European unity.
War between European Union member states is now, I would say, inconceivable, but urgent reforms are needed in Europe. We all recognise that, but the social and cultural unity that the European Union has brought is a vital guarantee of peace, and that social and cultural unity must be our mission in the world.
I offer my sincere tribute, as other members have done, to those Scots who fought Nazism and fascism in the second world war. I extend that tribute to all Europeans, and to people all over the world, who took part in that fight against Nazism and fascism. Although I recognise that enormous contribution and the important part that D-day played, I agree with Donald Gorrie that it is perhaps fitting to mention in passing the fact that the battle of Stalingrad also played a key part in the way that the course of the second world war developed.
The Europe that we see today, although it is certainly democratic, is not yet a Europe worthy of the heroes and the people across the world who fought in the war—those who died and those who survived—and there is a great deal to be done to make it a Europe fit for heroes. I know that the convention in members' business debates is to offer the Parliament constructive points of view, but I must say that I find it curious that this debate has been scheduled for this evening, on the eve of the European Parliament elections, and I sincerely hope that that will not be construed in any quarters as an attempt at electioneering. That would not be fitting and it would not be what the veterans of D-day deserve.
I was disappointed, as I am sure that other members were, by the fiasco surrounding the First Minister's attendance at the D-day celebrations. I am also disappointed to hear that that is now the subject of some scrutiny and debate, and that it is being suggested that the First Minister had been ordered by Downing Street not to attend the celebrations in Normandy for fear that he might represent Scotland, just as the Welsh First Minister would represent Wales, and upstage or deflect attention from the British Prime Minister. I hope that that was not the case. I hope that there is no grain of truth in that.
When a member lodges a motion, they never know whether it will be selected for debate. I had no indication that my motion would be selected for this evening. Colin Fox has made comments about the First Minister, but that business is over and done with and we must move on. I do not think that a members' business debate is the place in which to raise such issues. If Colin Fox has any concerns about the First Minister's decisions, he should deal directly with the First Minister.
I shall deal with the First Minister. I thank Trish Godman for her contribution and, as she suggested, I shall move on to the substance of the issue.
I agree with large parts of Trish Godman's motion, which suggests that the evil of Nazism and fascism across Europe has been destroyed. I agree entirely that Nazism and fascism were evils and that they had to be confronted; millions of people across the world made the ultimate sacrifice in confronting them. However, I am sure that members would also agree that it is necessary to be ever vigilant. Trish Godman, rightly, mentioned the BNP, but there is also the Front National in France and Jörg Haider in Austria, so the peoples of Europe have to be vigilant.
I do not agree that the European Union is based on equality and fraternity and I do not think that its record on the elimination of poverty has been anywhere near worthy of the people who fought in the war. Unfortunately, we do not have a European Union that is based on equality and run by the peoples of Europe; rather, we have a centralised, faceless European bureaucracy that represents the interests of global corporations. Who elected them? Who fought a war to allow them to take over?
The most appropriate way of respecting those who made the ultimate contribution would be to eliminate poverty. Tens of millions of people throughout Europe live daily with the continuing scourge of poverty, and they feel let down by the European Union.
My grandfather was a veteran of the second world war. He was not in Normandy but was captured and forced to work on the Burma railway. The best way to honour the veterans—my grandfather and other people's grandfathers—would be to lift them out of poverty and to allow them dignity in retirement. As Trish Godman and other members have said, there is a challenge tomorrow in the European Parliament elections. There is a choice between, on the one hand, a Europe that is based on a desire for employment and a desire for dignity for veterans and others, and, on the other hand, a bosses' Europe. The bosses seem to be in charge at the moment.
I want to thank Trish Godman for securing this debate. Nazism was despicable. Lord James Douglas-Hamilton eloquently took us over the course of the second world war and I am very grateful for the way in which he did so.
The D-day commemoration ceremonies were the main focus of media attention on June 6, and rightly so. It is only right and fair that due credit was paid to the veterans who have survived the 60 years since that momentous event, which proved to be a turning point in the war, along with the battle of Stalingrad. However, on that day of national remembrance, I found myself taking a different stance from many others. I became increasingly angry as all the dignitaries and politicians lavished thanks and praise on those of that generation who had so selflessly made our future secure by their own sacrifices.
Sadly, with most politicians, it was nothing more than empty rhetoric. That may sound a bit harsh, but I ask members to stop and consider exactly how a D-day survivor—or indeed his wife or children—is being treated by a thankful nation 60 years later. He receives a meagre pension that, with pension credits, can be increased to £105 a week. That equates to a miserable £2.62 an hour for a 40-hour week—about £2 below the minimum income. A quarter of a million pensioners in Scotland live below what the Government regards as being the poverty level. At 75, they get a free television licence and at 80 they qualify for an increase in their weekly pension of a princely 25p. Yes—I am angry; I am very angry. This is certainly not a land that is fit for heroes to live in, far less for them to retire in. Those figures show exactly how much our pious politicians value the sacrifices of all the D-day heroes.
If a veteran is living in his own home and finds himself facing spending his remaining years in a retirement home, the first visitor at his bedside will be a social worker. That visit will not be to inquire about his health, nor will it be to inquire about what his requirements might be. No way. The veteran will simply be required to answer the question, "Do you own your own home?" If the answer is yes, the wheels will be set in motion to enable the social work department to sell that home to pay for the veteran's residential care.
The D-day veteran has probably worked hard all his life since being demobbed, and has scrimped and saved to pay his mortgage. Now, when he is at his most vulnerable, the system is geared up to sell his home to pay for his residential care. However, he will also be offered the much-publicised delayed option, whereby he can sign over his property. It will remain in his ownership until he dies, when the state will get the first option on his estate after the house has been sold to pay for his residential care. How is that for a grateful nation thanking a D-day hero?
Tony Blair and his Government should hang their heads in abject shame. They have let down the D-day generation in the most deplorable manner. Unless public opinion forces these uncaring and hypocritical politicians into doing something for the 1939-45 veterans, the survivors of the Iraqi war will fare no better 60 years down the line.
All that it would take to remedy the situation would be for the Government to provide a weekly pension of £160, which could be financed by the vast savings that would be made by abolition of all means testing. That is down to the Westminster Government. As for the Scottish Parliament, the best thing it could do to thank the D-day generation would be to abolish the council tax and to replace it with a fairer local income tax that is based on ability to pay.
I repeat that, in my view, our country and its politicians—who were all so fulsome in their praise of the gallantry of the heroes of the last war during the D-day ceremonies—are treating those same heroes despicably. The politicians have completely failed a whole generation, many members of which paid the ultimate price as they served their country from 1939 to 1945.
Like other members, I congratulate Trish Godman not simply on the motion that she lodged, but on the terms of her speech.
In Parliament, there are occasions on which matters transcend narrow party interests and a national position is achieved. In this evening's debate, we are not talking only about a national interest, because the second world war was fought between the forces of democracy and decency and those of evil and darkness. We should not forget that. We can criticise present and, indeed, past actions of the Governments of the United Kingdom, of the United States or of any other democracy, but at least they are democratically elected and we can take measures to deal with them; they most certainly never perpetrated the Holocaust. We should remember that, if the sacrifices in question had not been made, the world would have been vastly different and that that would have been to the detriment of all humanity, not just of those people who, tragically, fell under Nazism.
There are other factors that we must remember as D-day fades into memory and as people pass not just into history, but from this life. We must remember that, with the Holocaust, the motto is never forget. We must remind ourselves continually of what happened because—as history says—those who forget it are bound to commit such actions again. We must take that on board.
We must acknowledge that there were two specific reasons for the sacrifices that were made on D-day. That generation made sacrifices not just to win the war, but to win the peace. At the end of the day, the war was not fought simply to defeat Nazism; it was fought to defeat Nazism and to create a better world. Mark Ballard's point was valid—it was symbolic that the German Chancellor was at the events to mark the 60th anniversary of D-day, because the war was not just about winning the battle; it was about winning ultimately by creating a better world.
It is correct that people should say that the battle of Stalingrad was probably of greater importance than D-day was in turning the tide but, if we look back on history, it is clear that had the allies not been prepared to land, the Russian forces would have moved onward. When the Red Army came, many countries would not have experienced liberation day; the iron curtain that came down might have extended from the Elbe to the English channel. Many people who would have lived under a changed tyranny, whether in Latvia in Poland, would have lost out.
The D-day sacrifices were made to ensure that our ally fighting on the eastern front did not exchange one form of totalitarianism for another. Those sacrifices had to be made. That is not to underestimate or downplay the significance to the second world war of the battle of Stalingrad, but it was important that the allies made the D-day landing. Their sacrifices were made to ensure that many people in central and western Europe avoided exchanging one form of totalitarianism for another.
Sacrifices were also made in winning the peace. The D-day generation was prepared to forsake its present for a better tomorrow. There was no clamouring for continual tax cuts, because there was investment in infrastructure, health care and education. As a child of the 1960s, I am a product of what my parents' and my grandparents' generation delivered. They ensured that every school that I went to was ultimately a new school, even if it was in an old building when I enrolled. They ensured that the health facilities that I used were modern and were always being upgraded. They did that not by clamouring continually for themselves, but by seeking to create a better world for future generations.
That state of affairs has not been rolled back by any one particular party; to some extent, all of us are culpable in what we have allowed to happen. The generations that follow the D-day generation have a duty to remember the sacrifice that was made, not just in war but in peace.
The only comment that I will make about the elections is that I do not advocate a vote tomorrow for new Labour under Tony Blair. I do not forget, however, that I am a product of what was created by Clement Attlee and his Labour Government following an historic victory back in 1945. I acknowledge the debt of gratitude that I owe them. Neither should we forget the sacrifices that were made in war or in peace in respect of the blood that was spilled or the work that was done to bring the country back together for the future of our children and their children's children. We must never forget.
I congratulate Trish Godman on securing the debate. It is appropriate that all of us show our sincere gratitude to the generation who gave up so much: if not their lives, then their limbs, families and hearts. I am thinking of all those who were involved in the war; not only those who fought but the families who supported them.
At times such as this, on the 60th anniversary of D-day, it is vital that we remember not just the significance of that landing but the whole period of the second world war and the need for the world at that time to engage in military action against fascism. As Donald Gorrie said, very few wars are justified. Unfortunately, the second world war was one of them and it is vital that we pay our utmost respects to all those who were involved in it.
I want to raise one other point to which I hope the minister might respond. Last night, I had the great privilege of attending the unveiling in London of a plaque that was paid for by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers. The plaque lists all the members of the former National Union of Seamen who left the shores of Britain in 1936 to join the fight against fascism in Spain. At the time, most of the world did not realise that what was happening in Spain was the dress rehearsal for the second world war. Most of the world refused to recognise that Franco's military coup was the beginning of the march of fascism across the whole of Europe. Unfortunately, because the rest of the world ignored what was happening in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini were emboldened to begin their march across Europe.
Those from Scotland who volunteered in 1936 to fight against the fascist coup in Spain and who, in so doing, gave their lives deserve proper recognition of their sacrifice. The 70th anniversary of the conflict in Spain will take place in two years' time. I appeal to the minister to consider whether the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament could erect a plaque to list the names of the volunteers who saw the writing on the wall that other people did not see and gave their lives in the fight against fascism in Spain.
The debate is neither the place nor the time for any of us to electioneer for tomorrow's election. I hope, however, that all members can unite in saying categorically that the best way for people to honour those who fought and fell would be for them to use their vote tomorrow, even if they go to the ballot box and mark "none of the above" on the ballot paper. Those who fought 60 years ago fought in order to give people the right to write that on their ballot paper, and it would be better if people did so than for them not to use their vote at all. I appeal to the people of Scotland to honour the memory of those who fought in the second world war by at least using their vote, but they must not give their vote to the latter-day 21st century fascists in the shape of the British National Party. It would completely dishonour the memory of those who fought and died 60 years ago if people were to vote tomorrow for the very forces that want to reintroduce fascist and Nazi ideology in the 21st century. I appeal to the people of Scotland to vote tomorrow but to ensure that they do not vote for the fascists.
It is customary on these occasions to congratulate the member on securing the debate. That is more appropriate on this occasion than on some others. I welcome Trish Godman's motion.
Sixty years ago this week, thousands of Scottish soldiers, side by side with their allied comrades, bravely participated in one of the largest single invasion forces in history—the D-day landings at Normandy, which saw the beginning of the end of world war two and with it the scourge of Hitler's Nazi regime across Europe.
Many Scots—not just then, but throughout the war—made the ultimate sacrifice to protect their families and loved ones, yet more survived to see the liberation of Europe and the beginnings of a new Europe built on co-operation, consensus, dialogue and peace. It is perhaps difficult today to speculate about the Europe that might have emerged were it not for the bravery, courage and sacrifices of Scottish soldiers, sailors and airmen around the globe and, lest we forget, their brothers in arms from the allied forces, not just in Normandy but in other battles such as Monte Cassino, Stalingrad—which was mentioned by other members—Okinawa and Burma.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to every Scots man and woman who played a role in the defeat of Nazism. The Executive is happy to place on record, on behalf of the nation, the recognition, respect and gratitude that we all have for those Scots who gave of their utmost in defeating fascism, both in Europe and further afield.
The First Minister represented the Scottish nation at the commemorative events in Arromanches last weekend. I attended the commemorations in a private capacity, accompanying my father, a D-day veteran, so that he could pay his respects. It was his first time in France, apart from a brief visit to Lourdes, since that day 60 years ago when he was aboard HMS Roberts off Juno beach. Like many veterans, he does not say much about his experience: one can only imagine the horrors that were witnessed by an 18-year-old youth. However, I know from his countenance on Sunday just how deeply he—and, I am sure, many others—was affected by his D-day experiences. Without the efforts of those thousands of men and women—people like my father—60 or more years ago, this Parliament might not be here now and our understanding of a European union would be drastically different.
The defeat of Nazism in Europe paved the way for conciliation and co-operation between nations and, eventually, to the 1957 Treaty of Rome and the creation of the European Community, the precursor to the European Union. The peoples of western Europe have put centuries of conflict behind them in a successful economic and political community, membership of which over the past 30 years has benefited the UK and Scotland. Those benefits are manifest all around us in our constituencies throughout Scotland.
Enlargement of the European Union this year is a particularly significant milestone and a notable achievement, as it reunites east and west after half a century of division and conflict and echoes the co-operation during the war of allies from Poland, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The European Union has provided the context for closer co-operation across a wide range of subjects. It has encouraged members to negotiate solutions to difficult issues where the gains of working together are greater than the sum of the individual parts.
The adoption of the Lisbon agenda in 2000 saw a firm commitment being made to the economic reform agenda and to the goal of creating millions of jobs throughout the EU by 2010. It was recognised that a strategic and collaborative approach was the route to solving Europe's problem of high unemployment, which is one of the most significant causes of poverty and exclusion that we in Scotland are firmly committed to eradicating.
The motion refers to the elimination of poverty, to which Donald Gorrie and others referred. In Scotland, the UK and Europe we have made significant inroads into tackling poverty, but we cannot and will not rest on our laurels in fighting to eradicate poverty and exclusion from our society. Neither should we forget that poverty is only one strand of social exclusion and that people can suffer exclusion as a result of discrimination, ignorance and fear and on many other grounds, such as gender, race, sexuality and xenophobia.
Scotland can rightly be proud of its dynamic, multifaith and culturally diverse society, which makes our nation stronger. The religious, ethnic and racial intolerances that Hitler's regime promoted are wholly unacceptable in a modern society like ours, and we are determined to promote equality of opportunity and social justice for all our citizens so that they can live free from fear and discrimination.
Germany in the 1930s saw the rise of a tyranny that was based on fear and in which ignorance, hatred and discrimination led to a society that was torn apart on the grounds of race and religion. That tyranny was the Third Reich, and the advent of world war two provided it with the opportunity for the extreme manifestation of its ignorance, fear and xenophobia in places such as Auschwitz and Dachau. The invasion of Europe by allied forces 60 years ago and the beginning of the end of the Nazi regime can therefore be seen as a truly momentous turning point for the history of the European continent. We now live in a Europe that is built on freedom, trust and tolerance and we can work together within the European Union to target society's problems.
I agree with the concerns that other members—particularly Trish Godman—raised about the rise of the extremist right wing and especially the BNP in our country. I also agree with Tommy Sheridan when he says that, tomorrow, people have an opportunity to use their votes—the votes that our predecessors fought hard for us to have—but they should not support those who would discriminate against others, such as the BNP.
Our freedom to discuss openly in this Parliament and other Parliaments the problems that we face daily owes a lot to the men and women who gave up their lives on the battlefields of Europe, Africa and Asia 60 years ago, and to them we simply say thank you.
Meeting closed at 17:52.