Scotland's Veterans
The next item of business is a debate on motion S2M-2794, in the name of Malcolm Chisholm, on commemorating Scotland's veterans.
Close to the entrance to the Kohima cemetery in north-east India there stands a second world war memorial to the British Army, Second Division. Upon that stone are inscribed the following words:
"When you go home, tell them of us and say,
for your to-morrow, we gave our to-day."
Some 57,000 Scottish soldiers, sailors and airmen gave their todays between 1939 and 1945 so that we here in this chamber, and everyone the length and breadth of Scotland, could have our tomorrows.
Last Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe, and on 15 August we will commemorate the anniversary of the end of the war with Japan. In commemorating those dates we are doing much more than simply celebrating the cessation of hostilities in a war that ravaged much of Europe and the far east; we are showing our respects, paying our debts of gratitude and remembering those who fell so that we could have the opportunity to live in peace and freedom. We are saying to the Scots men and women who served between 1939 and 1945—and indeed to all those who have served in the armed forces—that we recognise their contribution, their commitment, their courage and their valour. We, as the Scottish nation, are saying to them that we will not forget their comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice, who gave up their today and all their tomorrows and who, sadly, never returned.
The Executive, and, I am sure, the Parliament, is happy and deeply honoured to have placed on record, on behalf of the Scottish people, its recognition, respect and utmost gratitude to those Scots who have served in defence of their country and way of life.
On Sunday past, the nation commemorated victory in Europe day when we remembered those who fought for our futures. The First Minister paid his and the nation's respect to the veterans of the 1939-45 conflict when he attended a VE day service and parade in Dundee. Throughout the summer months the Executive will continue to represent the Scottish people at similar events, including the national commemorations of the end of world war two in Edinburgh on 10 July.
However, war is fought not simply on the battleground, and considerable recognition of and credit for the civilian element of the war effort on the home front has to be given. Perhaps it is difficult for most Scots nowadays to imagine what life was like at home between 1939 and 1945. Britain was an island under threat of invasion and towns and cities lived in fear of bombing raids by the Luftwaffe. Food supplies were dwindling and rationing meant that people had to do the best that they could with limited provisions. However, the people of Scotland showed tremendous resilience and courage in standing up to threats and fears. They showed that the battle against tyranny could be fought as well on the home front as it could be fought in Europe, north Africa and east Asia.
An advertising poster of the day might have described a job in the Women's Land Army as "a healthy, happy job", but in reality the work was hard, strenuous and dirty. Women would work for up to 50 hours a week with the minimum of equipment to bring food to the tables of the nation. Those in the Women's Voluntary Service gave their time unconditionally to relieve the hardships that many families suffered as a result of bombing raids. More women contributed as nurses and air raid precaution wardens and in civil defence. Industry would have been severely diminished if women had not contributed to the war effort in munitions factories such as that at Bishopton and in heavy industries more generally.
The officers and men of the merchant navy also deserve special recognition. Their tireless and heroic work while under constant threat from the invisible U-boat enemy did much to secure food supplies to Britain and to our allies in the Soviet Union by means of the Arctic convoys. It is only fitting that 30 veterans of the Artic convoys should receive special medals this week from the consul general of the Russian Federation in recognition of their efforts. [Applause.]
Finally, and not least, on the home front, we should acknowledge the work of the Bevan boys—the young men who, with minimum training or experience, worked alongside Scotland's miners to ensure energy for industry and warmth for the people. The work of none of the people whom I have mentioned should be underestimated, and we must never forget people's contribution on the home front.
However, another group of veterans needs to be recognised—those who spent time incarcerated in prisoner-of-war camps. A great many people endured terrible torture and suffering in camps in the far east or experienced indignity and humiliation in Hitler's stalags. Many did not return, but succumbed to the torture and pain or were executed while trying to escape. War—sadly—brings out humankind's brutality as well as its resilience and tenacity. We must never forget the Scots and people from all the other nations who suffered or died while being kept as prisoners.
The Executive fully supports the efforts of Veterans Scotland and the Royal British Legion Scotland in organising the commemorative events that are planned for July and August this year because we must never forget. I ask members, through supporting the motion, to record their gratitude to, and recognition of, organisations and charities for the sterling and committed work that they undertake. The list includes Erskine, the Scottish Veterans Residence, Combat Stress, the Royal British Legion Scotland and the Earl Haig Fund Scotland, and it goes on. Without the dedication of such organisations, Scotland's veterans community would lose valuable services that are specifically tailored to their needs.
The Executive is working closely with those organisations in considering ways to help veterans to meet the challenges of the present day. It is important to the Executive that veterans are treated like everyone else in Scottish society and are not denied, because of their circumstances, opportunities for training and employment or access to decent and affordable housing and to the health and social care that they need. Through discussions with veterans organisations, we know much about the problems that are faced by some service personnel when they leave the forces. Of course, the majority make a successful transition back into civilian life, but a minority need extra help to make the transition as smooth and trouble free as possible. Unfortunately, we know that there are veterans who need care and support, who are in danger of falling into poverty and social exclusion, who are at risk of becoming homeless or who face barriers as a result of physical and mental health problems.
Veterans can face particular problems in integrating back into civilian life. For example, some who joined up at a young age may have little experience of adult life outside the services, which can make independent living hard. Others may have health problems, which can lead to and exacerbate homelessness. That is why the Executive is liaising closely with the Ministry of Defence to advance the homelessness task force recommendations in this area. In particular, we have revised legislation and guidance to ensure that homeless people who are vulnerable as a result of their service background are entitled to permanent accommodation. Moreover, we will reissue updated guidance on housing for veterans to local authorities and registered social landlords during the summer.
The Ministry of Defence has also taken a number of initiatives to tackle homelessness. I look forward to continuing to work with the MOD, the armed forces, Veterans Scotland and the wide range of veterans benevolent services to ensure that the risk of homelessness is averted.
A successful move to independent civilian life is not simply a matter of housing. A lack of qualifications or transferable skills can make finding employment difficult for ex-service personnel. Employment is important for all of us, but for veterans it can be especially so. I have stated previously the Executive's belief that employment is the best way for people to avoid or to get out of poverty. For veterans, employment can also provide the basis for establishing new social networks and friendships that can have a positive impact and assist them in making a successful transition from military life.
The Executive's new closing the opportunity gap approach puts employment at the heart of the Executive's social inclusion and anti-poverty strategy. As part of that, we are developing an employability framework that aims to improve the co-ordination of services that can improve the employment prospects of those in our society who face particular barriers to employment. The framework will be published in the summer.
At a meeting with veterans organisations and the MOD in January this year, officials from the Scottish Executive were interested and concerned to hear that many veterans are beginning to suffer from psychological problems—on average, 14 years after leaving the services. During that time, their lives in civvy street may have been uneventful, but once problems arise they can be seriously affected. Safeguarding the mental well-being of Scotland's veterans is important to the Executive, not only because of the debt of gratitude that we owe, but because we recognise that veterans risk not only their physical health but their mental health during active service.
Each year the Scottish Executive Health Department sends a letter to all national health service boards reminding them of the arrangements for priority treatment of war pensioners. In addition, this year we have sent a letter to NHS boards drawing their attention to the gulf health pack and asking them to bring it to the attention of all general practitioners. Moreover, all Scotland's veterans have access to care, treatment, advice and support from NHS Scotland. Local authorities and voluntary organisations provide a range of mental health care services, treatments and supports that are available to all ex-services personnel.
It is evident that the reintegration of some veterans into civilian society can be accompanied by a wide and diverse array of problems, barriers and situations that they need extra assistance to overcome. That is as true for veterans as it is for any other vulnerable group in society, but how often do we think of veterans when we talk about excluded or disadvantaged groups? It can be all too easy for veterans to become the invisible group.
One of our immediate tasks is to raise awareness, not just across government but among service providers and the public, of the issues that veterans face every day across Scotland. That is why the Executive is fully supportive of the efforts of Veterans Scotland, the Royal British Legion Scotland and others to promote the welfare of veterans during veterans awareness week this summer. Veterans must not be denied opportunities for training and employment or access to decent, affordable housing and health and social care. We need to provide assistance while always recognising that veterans, like everyone else, deserve to live with dignity and respect.
In recent times, significant progress has been made on veterans-related work in Scotland. We will continue to work closely with our colleagues in the Ministry of Defence and the veterans organisations, so that we can continue to make a real difference for those members of the veterans community who are most in need of our support.
This time last week, millions of Scots went to the polls in the United Kingdom general election. Without victory in Europe and over Japan, we can only imagine whether we would have had that opportunity. Unfortunately, it took six years of total war, costing on average 10 million lives a year, to secure that democratic freedom. Tens of thousands of Scots gave their today to secure our tomorrows. For that, the Executive, the Parliament and the nation will be forever grateful.
I move,
That the Parliament acknowledges a debt of gratitude to all Scottish veterans who served their country in World War II; recognises the ultimate sacrifice made by 57,000 Scots during that period of conflict, and encourages everyone in Scotland to support the commemorative events this summer.
I welcome the opportunity for Parliament to recognise the sacrifice made by men and women in the forces and as civilians from many countries—many with their lives—which delivered democracy to western Europe, although, regrettably, not yet world peace, as we note when we scan the international headlines and see wars around us. That sombre thought becomes even more sombre when one counts the losses in world war two. The loss of 57,000 Scots accounted for 20 per cent of all UK deaths—double our share of the population. Russia lost 29 million, 17 million of whom were non-combatants; China lost 3 million; 6 million Jews and 5.5 million Germans were lost; and Poland lost more than 6 million. However, all those figures are only estimates.
How timelessly true the following quotes are. The Greek philosopher Plato, who died in 347BC, said:
"Only the dead ever see an end to war."
Hiram Johnson, governor of California, said in 1910:
"The first casualty when war comes is truth."
Mao Tse-tung, the chairman of the Chinese communist party, who died in 1976, said:
"Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."
Perhaps the most apposite and oft-quoted line was from another European empire builder, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France, who died in 1821. He said:
"On ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser des oeufs."
Figures in the millions can mask not only the myriad individual lives lost but the tales of those who survived, so I will tell the story of two men. One was my father's friend, Jock Hunter from Hawick, who volunteered the day on which war was declared and joined the King's Own Scottish Borderers. Jock, whose war ended at Arnheim in the month and year of my birth—I was my father's first child and was born in September 1944—was shot down as the parachutes unfurled in the sky. Walter Hirst, my assistant's grandfather, was a survivor of the Lancastria, which sank on 17 June 1940 with an estimated loss of life of 4,000—the worst naval disaster in British history. This is his story:
"I became an enlisted man in December 1939 before being sent to Clacton-on-Sea for basic training with the Royal Engineers. We were billeted in chalet accommodation at the Butlins Holiday camp in Clacton. The winter was bitter. We—663—had two weeks basic training with 1914 armaments before embarkation to France on or around the 26th of January 1940. Prior to leaving we were described by an officer in the Duke of Wellington's regiment as ‘civilians in soldiers clothing'.
Once in France we were quickly put to work on a variety of construction jobs at an airfield just outside Nantes. Around the middle of June we were assembled and informed of the pending embarkation to England. It was a long, hot march. Eventually we reached St Nazaire around the 15th/16th of June amidst an air raid alert. That night I spent sheltering under a stairway with another member of 663 whom I was teamed with, Charles ‘Chick' Napier. Myself and Chick were from the same county in Scotland, Coupar Angus.
On the 17th we boarded the Lancastria late in the afternoon. We immediately grabbed a couple of life jackets which I thought would make ideal pillows. We were ordered below and shortly after witnessed, through a porthole, the Oronsay being hit. Both myself and another Sapper decided then that it would be healthier if we were topside and so we did against orders.
Soon after the Lancastria was hit. It was a massive explosion. There was total panic and chaos. Soldiers, including some from 663, positioned at either end of the ship began to open up with Bren guns at the circling enemy craft. I managed to get myself into a lifeboat but as it was being lowered the ropes on one end became jammed in the davit. A panicked sailor suddenly jumped up and started to hack away at the ropes with a knife. Myself and others yelled at him to stop, but immediately we were all thrown into the sea.
Although I had a lifejacket on, I still had my doubts about being in the water as I was a non-swimmer. We were all saturated with oil. I kicked off from the side of the Lancastria on my back. I kept thinking, ‘Got to escape the suction of the ship.'
The Lancastria continued to roll over to port. Hundreds of men were now clinging to the upturned hull. Some of those standing on the turning hull began singing ‘Roll out the Barrel'. Then one tenor voice began with ‘There'll always be an England'.
During this time the enemy continued to strafe the men on the ship and in the water. They also began dropping incendiaries in an attempt to light the leaking oil. At some point a seemingly crazed man tried to remove my life jacket, but I manage to fight him off. Even with the jacket on I stayed as still as possible in the water hoping this would improve my buoyancy. I believe I was in the water for around two hours. At one point a large dog swam by. I briefly held onto it because it was swimming away from the ship and I thought it would take me with it. I believe it had belonged to some refugee Belgian children who had been on the boat. They did not survive.
Eventually I was picked up. We finally arrived in Plymouth the next day. We were forbidden under ‘King's Regulations' to mention any word of the Lancastria."
Some of the relatives of the people who did not survive did not hear anything for nearly 18 months until they received a War Office telegram that stated that their husband, father or son was lost in action in France, presumed dead aboard HMT Lancastria.
Walter Hirst, who survived what happened to the Lancastria, had his own long history; Jock Hunter was survived by my father, who is now 90 and has family, friends and his own long history. However, Jock and the millions of others who became part of that awful history had none of their own. Some people once thought that the first world war was the war to end all wars. As we remember the dead and the injured and VE day, we should always remember and regret all those who continue to die in wars and because of wars now, tomorrow and the day after, in Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan and on and on.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose—or, as the Erskine poster on the way into the chamber today says:
"War isn't a thing of the past".
I commend Christine Grahame for her very moving account of family and friends.
How does one acknowledge, as the motion states,
"a debt of gratitude to all Scottish veterans who served their country in World War II"
and recognise
"the ultimate sacrifice made by 57,000 Scots",
who, as the minister said, gave their tomorrows for our todays? No words are enough to acknowledge our debt to the war veterans of world war two. However, in our daily lives as MSPs, we all meet war veterans and their families, and we can help to ensure that they, and all elderly people in Scotland, receive the public services that they deserve with the respect and dignity that they deserve.
About a year ago, a war veteran called Alex Bochel from Nairn came to my surgery to say that his chiropody appointments had been cut from once every three months to once every six months. Indeed, hundreds more people throughout the Highlands had their appointments cut in the same way. When Alec dared to complain that his feet needed professional podiatry treatment every three months, he was offered the alternative treatment of having his toenails removed. Now he pays for private treatment twice a year and receives NHS treatment twice a year. However, he is in a better position than many people, including other war veterans, who used to receive free podiatry and chiropody treatment and who are now forced to pay the full cost of that care.
How many of our old soldiers or their widows now reside in care homes? When the Parliament came into being, there were 1,724 incidents of bed blocking—which is better known as delayed discharge. The latest figure is up by 61 to 1,785.
Despite the millions invested in care in the community by the Government, too many people—mainly elderly people—are still not being given appropriate care in line with their assessed needs. Many of those people are waiting for a place in a care home. How can we sit back and let councils such as Highland Council pay £600 per person per week for residential care in one of their own homes while paying only £450 per person per week for the provision of more costly and complex nursing care in the independent sector?
Many veterans' families and others have asked me that question for six years, and I cannot give them the answer. They also ask why it is that they have saved all their lives in order to self-fund their care, only to find that they are paying more per week than other residents who are funded by the council are paying. Is that fair?
As a member of the committee that passed the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Bill, I know that it was commonly and generally understood and stated at the time that every elderly care home would be—
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I was under the impression that members should debate the motion in the Business Bulletin. I suggest that Mary Scanlon is not doing that. Could you rule on that?
I have some sympathy with that comment and was about to make one myself. I would be happier if you stuck more closely to the motion, Mrs Scanlon.
In fact, the motion states:
"That the Parliament acknowledges a debt of gratitude to all Scottish veterans who served their country in World War II".
In my opinion, you have strayed slightly from that. I would be grateful if you would address the motion.
I think that we will acknowledge our debt of gratitude if we ensure that war veterans get the excellent high-quality public services that they deserve.
I finish by saying that it is unfortunate that the strong and fit men who fought for our freedom are now becoming old and vulnerable. We owe it to them to ensure that they are at least given dignity and respect in their old age as an acknowledgement of this Parliament's debt of gratitude for their fight for our freedom.
I am happy to speak in support of the motion. I thought that Malcolm Chisholm spoke particularly well in covering many aspects of the subject. Although our Conservative friend went a bit over the top, it is true that we have to ensure that veterans and other people who serve in the forces get proper treatment. Without getting party political, I think that our present pension system is not satisfactory and is in a bit of a muddle, and we must collectively ensure that that is sorted out. We must also ensure that housing and other support for veterans and other people coming out of the forces are organised as well as possible and that the excellent residential and support organisations run by various charities get the best possible support.
So that there is continuity, we must ensure that the forces, which have a different role to play now, continue to attract people who are well suited to that sort of life. We must ensure that recruitment of suitable people continues. The best way in which we can pay our debt to those people who fought and died, and to those people who fought and are still with us, is to learn the lessons of history. First, we have to know our history. Many people in Britain do not know any history at all, and that should be remedied. We must learn from history, but not live in the past. There is a certain unhealthiness in watching reruns of wartime movies on the telly, as I do, but we must learn from history.
We could learn, for example, from Germany, which, since the war, has become a successful democracy and a successful country that has made a good contribution to Europe. It has faults like anywhere else, but we must acknowledge that people can change. We have to look back and learn that a nation largely composed of decent and civilised people can be taken over by a tyrannical and hateful Government, and that people go along with that. There is a lesson to be learned from that. We should make quite sure that that does not happen here or in other places. It is possible for a bad clique to take over a country if people do not stay awake and continue to be actively democratic.
The member talked about tyrannical Governments and protecting democracy, but does he have a message for us about how we can protect democracy in situations in which tyranny results from the election of a leader within a democracy, as was the case with Hitler? How do we handle that?
That is the whole point—such people can take over. There are parties in this country—at the moment, they are small minority parties—that put out a highly pernicious message and we must ensure that they do not succeed in corrupting us.
A lesson that is perhaps harder to learn is how to repeat in peacetime conditions the enthusiasm and effort that went into contesting the war and ensuring that we won. If we could harness some of that energy to work collectively to create a better life for all our people, that would ensure that people's efforts during the war were not made in vain. We should continue to create a better country.
We must also learn ways of preventing wars from happening and support as vigorously as possible the United Nations and organisations such as NATO, which were designed to try to prevent wars. We must support vigorously any efforts to create peace.
Wars create an atmosphere of comradeship and working together, especially among the forces on the front line. Today's society is perhaps too selfish—in it, individuals look out only for themselves. I might be trespassing on dangerous territory when I say that more people must recognise that some of their personal habits—such as smoking in certain places or drinking far too much and making a thorough nuisance of themselves or even worse—are just not acceptable. People must think about the community rather than just seek their own gratification.
There are many lessons to be learned from the war. Although it was a terrible thing, it had good sides. It made people work better together for a better world and a better country. We can learn from that and try to keep that going in peacetime. By doing so, we will make all the efforts that people made during the war worth while. Through our efforts, we can create a better Scotland.
Like other members, I welcome the opportunity to speak in today's debate. Over the past few weeks, we have all listened to the testimonies of people who experienced the great sense of joy and relief that permeated the whole United Kingdom on VE day. Today's senior citizens have recounted stories about the street parties and large-scale communal activities that took place throughout the UK following the announcement of victory in Europe. We have also heard the tragic tales of those who lost loved ones during the war.
It is right and proper that we continue to commemorate the sacrifice that was made by so many in the battle against Nazi tyranny. I am sure that we all have family tales to tell, as Christine Grahame eloquently demonstrated. My grandfather, John Brown, served as a leading torpedo operator on the minesweeper HMS Circe, which was part of the north Atlantic convoys that sailed into Murmansk. Such minesweepers cleared the way for the convoys. As has been highlighted in many news items over the past few days, the men on those boats braved U-boats, aerial bombardment and icy seas to ensure that the supply lines to the eastern front were kept open. Their courage and determination helped to sustain Russian forces and, as a result, brought a speedier end to the war.
It is impossible to imagine how those young men must have felt, setting off on such perilous voyages and with such a high probability that they would not return. On 5 July 1942, one of those convoys, PQ17 to Archangel, lost 23 of 36 ships to U-boats and Condor bombers. Members of the Army and the Royal Air Force faced similar perils in locations throughout Europe, north Africa and the far east, but that was not the only way in which my grandparents and many other Scottish citizens helped the war effort.
My grandmother, like many women, was a crane driver in the steel works in Mossend. During the war, the plant provided much-needed armour plating for ships and tanks. Many women were engaged in jobs that, prior to the war, had been the sole domain of men; indeed, many of the men and women of Lanarkshire played a vital part in the war effort by ensuring that coal continued to be mined and that steel continued to be pressed. In commemorating victory in Europe, it is right that we record our gratitude to the many men and women who ensured that the raw materials for waging war continued to be produced.
In addition, the war galvanised communities and helped to forge strong alliances and shows of solidarity. A wonderful example of such solidarity in the battle against Nazism existed in my constituency and that of my colleague Elaine Smith. The women of Airdrie and Coatbridge, moved by the plight of the citizens of Leningrad, which was under siege by the Germans, decided to send messages of support. More than 2.5 million citizens were trapped as the German army tightened its grip around the city. The women members of the Anglo-Soviet aid committee of Airdrie and Coatbridge sent a book containing 5,000 messages of support to the women of Leningrad. In return, they received what became known as the Leningrad album, which is now on display in the Mitchell library. The album has watercolours and prints by Russian artists and 3,000 messages from the women of Leningrad. One of those messages reads:
"We have been moved to the depths of our soul by the words of love and greetings from those distanced from us in far off Scotland. Our husbands and brothers are cut off from us, our homes are in danger, our children are doomed to destruction or bondage. The women of Airdrie and Coatbridge have risen to the defence of their homes. We are proud to have such a worthy ally as the people of Great Britain."
Democratic processes that we now all take for granted have been made possible only because of those people who were willing to fight to protect and preserve them. The fight for devolution would have been impossible had the battle for Europe not been won by the allied forces. It is important that each new generation of Scots understands the sacrifice that was made by many millions of people to preserve their way of life. It is important that we pay our respects to those people, and that their stories continue to be told. Commemoration and remembrance are also important to ensure that the lessons of history are learned, so that future conflicts can, wherever possible, be avoided. I am pleased to support the motion, and to join others in commemorating the lives and deaths of those who have fought for our country.
We have just heard a speech that illustrates how hope and the human spirit can arise through and survive the worst of conditions—it was a reminder of what is possible. Although we concentrate on remembering the veterans of world war two, the debate is dedicated to all who risk their lives to defend our democratic freedom and values whenever and wherever they are threatened. In saluting the military, we should also recognise the civilians who, on land, in the air and on the oceans, were part of those events and gave their yesterdays for all our tomorrows. None of us can ever truly imagine the reality of war: no book, film or battlefield visit can ever convey the experiences of the 50,000 Scots who were killed or went missing in action during the second world war, or the 6,000 civilian and merchant navy losses.
War memorials in even the tiniest of Scottish villages tell of the sacrifices that were made by the world war one generation—quite apart from the massive contribution from the Commonwealth and other armed forces. The debate belongs to them and to those who thankfully survived those turbulent years and set about rebuilding the nation to which they had gifted peace.
The Chinese call the first and second world wars the European civil wars—it is easy to see what they mean. Powerful European states stopped exporting wars and Europeans turned inwards on themselves in the slaughter of 1914 to 1918.
World war two confronted humankind with its greatest global threat. The kind of world that we would now live in, had the democracies and their allies not prevailed, is unimaginable. All of us will be forever indebted to the soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians who fought and died for the democratic society that we have all inherited.
That debt has not always been fully recognised by UK Governments. My own constituency cases include that of a civilian who volunteered for the Army and was captured and imprisoned by the Japanese when Singapore fell. He was denied a pension because he was not considered to be part of the British armed forces. Christmas island nuclear test veterans who are ill with cancer have been denied compensation. United Kingdom war widows received smaller pensions than their German, Japanese and Commonwealth sisters. Those injustices had to be overcome. I pay tribute to the work and past campaigns of the Royal British Legion, which I have been honoured to support.
I will not introduce an overtly partisan element, but if anyone reads the battle honours and combat record of the Black Watch and our other Scots regiments, they will know exactly why the Scottish regimental tradition has to be cherished and defended. The Black Watch took part in some of the most important events of the second world war. They defended against the first ever airborne assault and they fought in the besieged fortress of Tobruk. They fought at the battle of El Alamein, which was the turning point of the war in Africa. They took part in the invasion of Sicily and the beginning of the Italian campaign. They fought at Monte Cassino, the Gothic line and in Greece against communist insurgents. They landed in Normandy on 6 June. They aided in the breakout of Caen and the Falaise gap. They also helped to liberate Holland and they were the first allied troops into Germany. They were in India and took part in the second Chindit expedition—for five months they operated behind Japanese lines. Participation in one of those would be amazing, but participation in all of them is extraordinary. That history, loyalty and service is typical of the Scottish regimental families. That gives an indication of what will be lost if we do not defend the traditions of the Black Watch and its sister regiments.
When we commemorate our veterans we should always remember organisations in Scotland that make that their daily occupation. For example, the British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association, the Earl Haig Fund and Erskine hospital heal and care for veterans of the second world war and other conflicts. As a society, we thank Erskine hospital and the other hospitals and their staff for looking after those who sacrificed so much in looking after us.
I recommend a visit to the newly refurbished Montrose Air Station Museum. It is fitting that the young men who risked their lives should be remembered in this way. This is not to glorify war, but to humbly and positively acknowledge the debt that we owe. They live on in our recognition of what they were and what they did in our name.
The need to be ever vigilant in our protection of freedom and democracy has not diminished, nor has the Scottish contribution to defence of those values. I can think of no better place to commemorate the sacrifices of the Scottish nation and people during the second world war than here in our new national Parliament. This Parliament is a statement about democracy, which we could not have made if those whom we commemorate today had not made their past sacrifices on our behalf.
We meet here in this Parliament to discuss how best to commemorate our war veterans. I suggest that the best way to do that is by participating in democracy, by demonstrating that democracy in Scotland is vibrant and alive and by carrying on the democratic ideals that we came so close to losing in those dark days of our nation's past. It is in that living and positive way that we can best commemorate all Scotland's veterans.
I should declare an interest as I am president of the Scottish Veterans Garden City Association, a charity that provides 594 cottages in Scotland for disabled ex-service and merchant navy personnel.
Today's debate rightly focuses not just on the courage and heroism of men and women who put their lives on the line for their country, but on the care and welfare of those who have been severely affected through disability, trauma or shellshock as a result of warfare. Some 57,000 Scots servicemen died in the second world war and a great many more were wounded, however much they may have made light of their injuries.
Andrew Welsh was right to sound a cautionary note. All too often in the past, veterans returning from the wars were forgotten. There is no more poignant example of that than what occurred after one of the greatest military debacles of all time. I refer to the charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean war, which was immortalised by Tennyson. However, the grisly truth was told by a less nostalgic individual, namely Rudyard Kipling. He wrote, accusing the powers that be in London, as follows:
"There were thirty million English who talked of England's might,
There were twenty broken troopers who lacked a bed for the night.
They had neither food nor money, they had neither service nor trade;
They were only shiftless soldiers, the last of the Light Brigade."
Happily, we live in a much more caring society and two of the words on our mace to guide us are "wisdom" and "compassion". If I may say so, I hope that the Ministry of Defence will enlighten all those veterans from the second world war and others who might be suffering from conditions that were derived from warfare, whether it be gulf war syndrome or anything else.
We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our servicemen and women who were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. That leaves us with a moral obligation and responsibility to care for those who survived the battle or, in other cases, for their widows and orphans, and to ensure that future generations are aware of their sacrifice. We believe and hope that the Executive, the local authorities and the voluntary services will get together and thrash out a deal that will keep care homes open. We also hope that there will be a review of military pensions.
As I said at the outset, we have to care for those who gave of their best and who should live in a country that is fit for heroes. I do not wish the finger of accusation to be pointed at any Scottish MSP in the way in which Rudyard Kipling gave his withering denunciation of the London Government when he wrote:
"O thirty million English that babble of England's might,
Behold there are twenty heroes who lack their food to-night;
Our children's children are lisping to "honour the charge they made-"
And we leave to the streets and the workhouse the charge of the Light Brigade!"
It is necessary not only to look after veterans and their families but to give the necessary support to the British armed services to enable them to provide a service that is second to none. In that connection, in dealing with the Scottish regiments and all the services in the future, if young men and women are asked to put their lives on the line for their country, they should be backed up with all the necessary resources and support, and they should be seen to be receiving that support. I make that recommendation because it is the least that those who made the supreme sacrifice would have expected. That came home to me during the recess when I visited the Commonwealth war cemetery at El Alamein in Egypt. I found myself opposite the grave of a young Scottish soldier. Inscribed on the tombstone were the words:
"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
His name was Private J Fleming of the Black Watch. It is because of the example of soldiers such as him that we owe a duty of care to all our veterans.
We need to understand what it means to pay the supreme sacrifice and what it means to have someone who is close to you killed in war. In my case, my father fought in the war with the 14th Army under General Slim. My mother worked in London during the blitz. I had two great uncles—Walter and Arthur—who were killed in the first war. In a way, it did not mean a huge amount to me or my generation; I think that that was because I had never known them and they were long dead.
I would like to tell the story of somebody who came from my home town of Tain; if members do not mind, I will go to go back to the first world war, the great war, the 1914-18 war. His name was Ian Mackenzie. He had been to Tain Royal Academy. He was a brilliant scholar and went on to Balliol, from where he passed out very near the top. The family always proudly boasted that he did rather better than Harold Macmillan. Ian Mackenzie volunteered for the Seaforth Highlanders in 1914 and fought his way right through the war, rising through the ranks to become a young officer. Tragically, he was shot during the closing weeks of the war. His name is rightly at the top of the war memorial in Tain.
When I was in my early teens, I knew his two surviving sisters, Catherine and Dorothy Mackenzie. One November, my parents had gone away for some reason and I was sent to stay with the two Mackenzie sisters in their house just outside Tain. I remember, on remembrance Sunday, being embarrassed to find the two old ladies in tears. I am ashamed to say it, but I was embarrassed; I was young and I did not understand, but then it came home to me in a blinding flash what it was to have lost a dearly beloved elder brother—the man who was the scholar, so brilliant at Balliol, and who was the apple of his father's eye and could have done so much.
I am glad that I saw the two Miss Mackenzies' tears. It was tragic, but it leads to the question of how we can get the next generation to understand. I look at war memorials, and I go to the remembrance Sunday services that we hold faithfully in my home town. Sometimes I think that the numbers are diminishing. Do the young, the next generation, understand? There is hope. My three children are going through the same Tain Royal Academy that Ian Mackenzie attended and that I attended, and they went on excellent trips to see the war graves and battlefields of France. Oddly enough, I think that the message has stuck with them. There is hope.
We also owe something to the way the stories are told—sometimes in graphic and harrowing detail. I am thinking of Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan". The latter did not spare the detail of what it was like to go on to the beaches of Normandy with the bullets whistling past. Through culture and the teaching of history—which Donald Gorrie was right to emphasise—we have to pass the message to the next generation that it is terrible that anybody should have to give their life in war, and that it is terrible that wars continue.
War is a black, black prospect, but I hope and pray that through education and dissemination of culture we can move society on. There is hope. In honouring the veterans—some of whom are with us today—and in honouring the memory of their comrades who fell, we owe it to them to ensure that the generations to come understand what the two Miss Mackenzies' tears meant.
I have waited a long time to mention Ian Mackenzie, who would otherwise be unknown. Now, at least, he is in the Official Report of this Parliament. His life and millions of other lives were wasted. We should not forget; I hope that we never shall.
Today in this Parliament we honour courage, bravery and sacrifice, and we pay a debt of gratitude.
"World Peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it. … Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements, which first create … solidarity."
Those were the words of Robert Schuman, the French foreign minister, speaking on 9 May 1950, five years after VE day. Schuman's groundbreaking speech was the French response to two world wars. It was a proposal to regulate coal and steel, the raw materials of war. The speech was made in the aftermath of major reconstruction across Europe. It was a concrete proposal for peace in Europe for future generations—a peace that, thus far, has stood the test of time.
Members will have varied views on the European Union, but I think that all parties could agree on the contribution that the European Union has made to peace. I thank members across the chamber for their support for my motion on VE day and Europe day.
No sacrifice could be greater than the sacrifice of life that was made by 57,000 of our Scottish servicemen. VE day serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of ensuring that future generations understand the sacrifice and horror of war.
Across Scotland, communities have expressed their appreciation of the efforts of our soldiers in different ways. In my constituency, primary schools have participated in a war detectives project, whereby children have interviewed veterans and their families to ensure that we document and collect for all time the wartime experiences that will soon be lost as this generation of veterans becomes older and passes on.
We welcome to the public gallery this afternoon members of the Royal British Legion and veterans associations. On Sunday night, I was pleased to meet members of the Royal British Legion for an evening of music, reading and drama performed by young people from our schools, depicting life in wartime Scotland. Schools performed sketches of various facets of wartime life, from the horrors of the Holocaust to the lives of the women in the munitions factories, the vagaries of rationing and the fear of evacuees who were leaving families in the city for life in the country, sometimes to live with strangers. Across Scotland, communities made sacrifices in the interests of freedom.
During wartime, many of our schools in Ayrshire were bursting at the seams as they coped with the volume of evacuees. According to the "War News", which was published by our young people, Ayrshire schools did everything that they could to help the war effort, growing 500 tons of vegetables in the year up to February 1941.
Of course, for people in Ayrshire, there was the constant threat of bombs as the Germans tried unsuccessfully to locate and destroy the Nobel munitions factory at Ardeer in Stevenston. I cannot imagine how frightening that must have been. Indeed, on 7 May 1941, German bombers blitzed the factory, causing fires that were so severe that eye-witnesses reported that they could be seen from miles away.
The horrors of the Holocaust across the channel must never be forgotten. They must serve as a poignant reminder that we must guard against the extremes of racism and xenophobia that can infiltrate political systems and, regrettably, gain respectability by the back door. In recent years, Europe has seen the rise—and, fortunately, the fall—of Jorg Haider in Austria. In Italy, too, within the National Alliance party—the party of Mussolini—there are ultra-right-wing fascist tendencies. The recent emergence of support for Jean Marie Le Pen in France and the Vlaams Blok in Belgium is extremely worrying and we should put on record at every opportunity our opposition to those ideologies.
As we commemorate VE day, it is important that the common values and principles that decent-minded people share, that our soldiers gave their lives for and that ordinary people throughout the United Kingdom and Scotland made sacrifices for—freedom, equality and justice—are not forgotten. Let us always hold true to the words of Wilfred Owen:
"At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them."
We will remember them. It is an honour to support the motion.
I, too, very much support the motion and associate the Scottish Green Party with every word and sentiment that has been expressed in the debate. I particularly congratulate Christine Grahame on what I thought was the most moving speech that I have heard in this chamber.
The best way in which Parliament can commemorate the veterans and Scots who made the ultimate sacrifice and show our debt of gratitude to them is to ensure that veterans of all conflicts—including the most recent ones—receive the proper care and treatment that they require. Since the second world war, there has been only one year—1968—in which no British service person was killed in active service. We need to remember every one of those servicemen and women and their families. Each year, the Royal British Legion answers 300,000 calls for help that are made to its helpline, Legionline, and about 11 million people in the UK are eligible to ask for its help.
According to Shelter and the Government's social exclusion unit, one homeless person in four is a former member of the armed services. Thousands live rough or in sheltered accommodation and many self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. Returning armed services personnel often end up on the streets with severe mental health problems, or even in the courts with undiagnosed problems. It is essential for the MOD thoroughly to assess all service personnel for post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems. MOD figures from 1991 on the gulf war reveal that 20 per cent of returning servicemen and women from that conflict were diagnosed with psychological problems, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal thoughts and anxiety. We must take care of all our servicemen and women.
Last year, I was honoured to visit Hollybush House in Ayrshire and to meet a veteran of the Normandy landings. I do not wish to be party political on the matter, but I hope that the Executive will respond to the concerted campaign by myself, Mr Gallie and, I am told, the Minister for Justice and give Hollybush House and Combat Stress every penny of the money that they require, regardless of the cost. We must make support for returning veterans a priority.
It is necessary to track the mental health of veterans for a large number of years in case symptoms emerge at a later date. That requires the creation of appropriate mechanisms to keep in touch with ex-soldiers and to deliver expert assessment and treatment if necessary. At present, that is not done. I do not think that the MOD responds appropriately to the needs of victims. I look forward to a future in which we do not see the MOD appearing in pensions courts to try to disprove the existence of gulf war syndrome or the health effects of depleted uranium. I hope that the MOD and the pensions system will properly reward all veterans and will look after them.
I finish by highlighting Donald Gorrie's comment on the need for us to support, in Parliament and in the country, the work of the United Nations. In particular, we must devote ourselves to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation goal of creating a culture of peace in Scotland, in the United Kingdom and around the world.
I repeat my deep support for the motion. I have found today's debate to be deeply moving and I trust that the commemorations throughout Scotland will receive the support of the whole nation.
It is right that every speaker in the debate should start by paying tribute to those who died or were injured, brutalised and traumatised during world war two or other wars throughout the world, both now and historically. The fallout permeates the generations and I am sure that everyone has a personal tale to tell. My mum was a child in the London blitz. She survived that, but spent years alone in a sanatorium because of the effects of that experience. Her experience has definitely permeated the generations of our family.
Whenever I have met anyone who was involved in world war two I have been impressed by the quiet dignity with which they bear their memories, of which I can have absolutely no concept. When I try to imagine their experience, multiplied by tens of millions throughout the world, my head bursts with the enormity of it all. I am sure that many people grew up listening to relatives' stories through only semi-attentive ears. Indeed, lots of us will have complained about being bored by tales that, from a child's point of view, seemed to be ancient history.
It took the war poets—Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and others—to open my eyes when I was a teenager and hammer home some of the enormity. We should be grateful to them for the illumination of their work and the sacrifice that they made, which enables us to have a slight understanding now, many years later. I certainly regret any hurt that I may have caused by not listening and not trying to understand, even though the attempt to understand would probably have been in vain.
I pay tribute to millions of working-class men and women—not to Governments, war ministries or the arms industry or to the imperialism, greed and brutal ideologies that cause wars. Ordinary men and women pay with their lives and their livelihoods for the wrongs of world powers. While we commend those people, we should condemn those who are prepared to sacrifice them in the pursuit of power.
I have no doubt that Hitler's fascist regime represented the worst of that brutality and disregard for human life and had to be confronted. World war two should have been the war to end all wars, which was the claim for the first world war. World war two should have led to genuine and equal international peace. Unfortunately, imperialism still stalks the globe. The pursuit of riches and power adds hundreds of thousands every year to the toll of human sacrifice. Iraq and Afghanistan are but two recent examples of that shame.
The scale of the human suffering and sacrifice takes my breath away. As we have heard, in world war two, 57,000 Scots died. I do not subscribe to the theory that such figures are statistics rather than tragedies—every one is a tragedy. In that war, 388,000 British people died. We should remember them and ensure that they receive unending respect.
It would be wrong not to remember that the effort was international and involved huge international sacrifice. The Soviet Union lost 25.568 million people—some estimates can increase that number by millions. That is more than 37 times the undoubtedly huge sacrifice of Britain and the United States of America added together. The battle of Stalingrad, which was pivotal in the defeat of fascism, saw the loss of more people of the Soviet Union than Britain and the United States of America lost throughout the entire war. That is not to diminish each individual's sacrifice, but it is important to recognise the huge scale of that sacrifice. I did not grow up with that fact, but it is one that all our children should grow up with, as is that of the sacrifices of 61 million people from countries throughout the world, including the millions of ordinary men and women of Germany who were caught up in the horrific vice of fascism.
Recently, I was in Italy, where I visited the Polish war cemetery at Monte Cassino. The cemetery was constructed in the year after the battle there by the comrades of those who fell in that battle. The cemetery is beautiful and awe-inspiring; it was a labour of love if ever I saw one.
The greatest tribute that we can give all those who gave their lives is to build an equal and peaceful world that is based on co-operation, not coercion; to build a society that avoids the inequalities and injustices that give fascists and dictators succour; and to build a society in which the resources for life are infinitely greater than those for death.
In commemorating VE day, we should remember that it was not the end of the brutality of world war two; that culminated in the horror and brutality of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It is important to put that on record. We have many problems yet to solve. I aspire to a world where we do not have to hold debates such as this while wars and the risk of wars continue. I want a better world.
I support the motion in the name of Malcolm Chisholm remembering all wars as well as victory in Europe day. The loss of 57,500 lives in the fight against fascism and for freedom and democracy devastated towns, villages and families throughout Scotland. The loss of 27 million Russians and of many others who died throughout the world—whose deaths Christine Grahame enumerated in her very special speech—was also devastating.
I remember too all the soldiers from the Dunfermline East constituency who made the ultimate sacrifice. It is always invidious to single out any one constituent for a mention, but there is one person whom I would like to mention today: Edgar Read from Cardenden, one of the Normandy veterans to whom the French Government last year presented the Légion d'honneur, which is one of the highest honours in France. We salute and honour Edgar Read and all the other veterans and we pay tribute today to their bravery and commitment.
Others have remembered their family members who served in the war. Today, I remember and honour my Aunt Nellie, after whom I was named and who was killed by a bomb in the Paisley blitz while she was serving at home as a nurse as part of the civilian effort. I remember my mother telling me as a child about the whole sky being lit up in places as far away as Stirling and Falkirk when the Paisley blitz was happening.
When anyone asks me why I have campaigned for and supported the ideals of a united Europe all my adult life, I need only remember that more than 50 million people died throughout Europe fighting against fascism and for freedom and democracy. They made the ultimate sacrifice. Europe was a continent where, in Winston Churchill's words,
"a vast quivering mass of tormented, hungry, care-worn and bewildered human beings gaped at the ruins of their cities and homes."
As Irene Oldfather mentioned, history books remind us of the Schuman plan, which was born not only because of world war two, but because of world war one.
I recall a visit that I made last summer to pay my respects at the war graves at Ypres and at the Menin gate, which is perhaps the most visited memorial to the great war on the western front. There, I read of the chlorine gas attacks that Germany launched against the British and French troops at Ypres in Belgium on 22 April 1915. That attack changed the world. It lasted only five minutes, but allied forces were not ready for it and lost about 15,000 soldiers and officers; it opened the era of weapons of mass destruction.
I also saw how, every evening at the Menin gate, volunteer trumpeters salute the fallen. Hundreds of people gather every night to remember and to join in that salute. The Menin gate is remarkable: not only are the names of soldiers and their regiments listed there, but the memorial combines the architectural images of a classical victory arch and a mausoleum and contains—inside and out—huge panels into which are carved the names of 55,000 officers and men of the Commonwealth forces who died in the Ypres salient area and have no known graves.
However, that figure does not represent all the missing from that area. It was found that the Menin gate, immense though it is, was not large enough to hold the names of all the missing, so the names recorded on the gate's panels are those of men who died in the area between the outbreak of war in 1914 and 1917. The names of a further 35,000 of the missing—those who died between 16 August 1917 and the end of the war—are recorded on carved panels at Tyne Cot cemetery on the slopes just below Passchendaele.
Every night of the year without exception, policemen close the road to traffic at 8 pm and stand at the salute while buglers from the Ypres fire brigade play the last post. That ceremony takes place whatever the weather, and there is always someone there to watch. The people who live near the Menin gate often open their doors and stand on their doorsteps to join in the daily act of remembrance in honour of the young and brave who came from all over the world to die in defence of their town. Sometimes, during the summer battlefield tour months, many hundreds of visitors attend the ceremony. Indeed, 400 were there the night I visited. On especially significant days such as 11 November, the last post ceremony will take place at 11 am as well as at 8 pm. When that date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, there will be large parades, with thousands present. The ceremony is a moving one. No matter how many people have been there, it has taken place almost continuously since 1927. During the second world war, when the Germans occupied Ypres, the ceremony was banned. The bugles were kept safe, however. The day the Germans left Ypres in 1945, the plaintive notes of the last post rang out under the Menin gate that very same evening.
One of the most tragic features of the great war was the number of casualties reported as missing, believed killed. When peace came and the last ray of hope was extinguished, the void seemed deeper and the outlook more forlorn for those who had no grave to visit—no place where they could lay tokens of loving remembrance. It was resolved that, there at Ypres, where so many of the mission are known to have fallen, there should be erected a memorial worthy of them to give expression to the nation's gratitude for their sacrifice and to express sympathy with those who mourn them. A memorial has been erected. In its simple grandeur, it fulfils that object. It can now be said of each one in whose honour we speak today:
"He is not missing. He is here."
I hope that people from all over Scotland will take the same route that I did from Rosyth to Zeebrugge and then a short train journey to Ypres, to pay respects in remembrance of all those men and women.
Only a few weeks ago, I travelled to Phuket in Thailand and visited one of the areas where the tsunami struck. Afterwards, we went to Kanchanaburi, about two hours' car journey north of Bangkok, and visited the bridge over the River Kwai and the war graves there. From late 1942 through to May 1943, prisoners of war were ordered to build two bridges over the Kwai in Burma, one of steel and one of wood, to help to move Japanese supplies and troops from Bangkok to Rangoon. It took eight months to build a bridge, rather than two months as in the film. It was used until it was destroyed just two years after its construction, in late June 1945.
The famous bridge over the River Kwai is about three miles north of downtown Kanchanaburi. It was brought from Java by the Japanese army and was assembled at the River Kwai by the prisoners. It was bombed several times in 1945, but it was rebuilt after the war. The curved spans of the bridge are the original sections. An estimated 16,000 POWs and 49,000 forcibly recruited labourers died during the construction of the bridge and the death railway that leads to Burma. The railway line was hewn from the solid rock cliffs. Workers would lower themselves from the top of the cliff, bore a hole and plant a charge of dynamite in it, light the fuse and scurry up the rope. If they did not get far enough away, they did not stand a Chinaman's chance. At the time of construction, the whole region was jungle. The railway opened the land for cultivation and made the transport of produce possible. I read items and saw paintings by some of those who had survived their terrible ordeal. Their experiences were horrific and cruel.
We visited a war grave nearby. The cemetery contains the remains of nearly 7,000 prisoners of war who lost their lives during captivity in the camps of the Japanese army, who forced them to build the bridge over the River Kwai and the death railway. We saw the names of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the Black Watch and many other regiments from Scotland, in whose honour we stood for a moment and paid tribute.
I hope that this debate will result in all of us going away with renewed energy to work tirelessly to serve the needs of those who fought for our futures. We should work for ever and without complaint on their behalf.
Much of war is about very hard choices and the agony of making them. On Saturday, I was at the RAF Banff memorial at Boyndie, with Polish, Canadian and our own air services personnel to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the final mission flown from RAF Banff. With the wee cup of tea and other stimulants that we had afterwards I heard a poignant tale, which I had not heard before, about the death of a young boy when Fraserburgh, in my constituency, was bombed. It turns out that he was almost a victim of friendly fire. A Norwegian, under the influence of the Nazis occupying his country, was sent to Scotland by submarine and landed near Fraserburgh as an enemy agent. Immediately upon landing he contacted the British authorities and offered to work for them. He remained in place as an agent for the Germans, but worked on our behalf for a number of years. The Germans had to deliver to him a new radio and supplies, for which the bombing of Fraserburgh was a cover. Of course, the agony for those who were making decisions on our side of the war was that they knew that the bombing would happen, but did not dare do anything to defend Fraserburgh, because it would compromise the contribution that that brave Norwegian, working as a double agent, was making to the war effort. A young boy—the only casualty of the bombing of Fraserburgh—was the price that was paid. That was the kind of hard choice that I hope we rarely, if ever, have to make again.
Helen Eadie mentioned visiting a war grave in Thailand. I commend the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and point to its website, which has photographs and lists of casualties from around the world. I know of many families who have used that resource to see where their loved ones have ended up with their memorial and where they fell. Many of the graves are beyond the realistic reach of relatives and friends who might want to travel to see them.
I was in Burma in 1978, which was in chaos at the time. Every street corner in Rangoon had an armed submachine-gun post. One hotel operated next to the presidential palace around which was a ring of tanks facing outwards. I was inside the ring, protected along with the President for the two days that I was there. The one place that worked north of Rangoon was the Commonwealth war graves. All the grass was cut to exactly the same height—12mm—the book of remembrance was in pristine condition and the graves were kept in apple-pie order. Nothing else in that country worked, but our servicemen and women were honoured.
Many of our civilians have contributed to the war effort. My Aunt Daisy was a canary; she worked in a munitions factory and lost the middle finger of her left hand. She carried, in a relatively minor way by comparison with other sacrifice, the memory of her contribution. Many others did likewise and many paid a much higher price. My great-great- great-grandfather served in the navy. He was on HMS Medway from 1780 to 1782—I have his certificate of discharge. We will all find papers about our family military history.
Herman Himmler died on 15 October 1946 at his own hand, two hours after I was born—he obviously knew what was coming and took the easy way out before I, and others, got to him.
In Moscow in 1972 I met a thrice decorated hero of the Soviet Union who was a KGB general and, interestingly, a Jew. We had little in common in language, but what the interpreter was able to tell me about his experience at the battle of Stalingrad was deeply moving. Around the world, people have made sacrifices.
Barra is one of my favourite parts of Scotland. It is where we have probably the most modern of our war memorials. It stands on the hill above Castlebay, to the west of the town. The memorial is a triangular obelisk and 132 names—from an island with a population of 1,200 people—are engraved on its granite. There is a cemetery down the hill on the west coast in which German sailors rest. They were the losers, were on the wrong side and were conscripted by fascists and therefore are not remembered as our people are.
Our remembrance nowadays is primarily an emotional matter—we want to register our debt of gratitude to our veterans. The issue is not administrative, but administratively we must ensure that we can support the march and celebration in Edinburgh, for example. There must be no constraints in respect of police power and resources to make that march and celebration a success.
There are 3,500 people in Scots regiments today. Some 57,000 died in the war. We are but grains of sand on the beach beaten by the ocean waves of war. Without the grains of sand there would be no beach and without the beach, there would be no land. Without the land, we would be overwhelmed and we would have nowhere to live. Our duty now is to win the peace for all those who gave us a peace to win.
I vividly remember the VE day celebrations on 8 May 1945 and thank all those who served in the armed forces during that conflict. However, it would be remiss of me if I did not help to colour the picture a bit more fully by pointing out that the war effort was not limited to the efforts of the armed forces—the whole nation played a full part from 1939 to 1945. Countless thousands of women were involved in munitions production and went out to work in every imaginable capacity, thus releasing more and more able-bodied men to be recruited into the forces. Many other women joined the Army, the navy, the air force and the land army to help the war effort. The Local Defence Volunteers—which grew into the Home Guard—and the air raid precaution wardens were formed and non-combatants flocked to join them in civil defence. We should not forget the Bevan boys.
Malcolm Chisholm spoke eloquently about the resilience and courage of everyone on the home front. I have never known a nation so united in its determination to overcome all odds to achieve victory—there was, for example, a nationwide dig for victory campaign. Sixty years on, we do not treat our heroes of the conflict too well. For example, when they reach their 80th birthday, our veterans receive a massive boost to their finances—they get an extra 25p a week. We do indeed have a land fit for heroes to live in.
Many veterans must find some of what goes on in modern society rather perplexing. For example, there has been a great outcry from politically correct people in the Parliament about identity cards—I have such a card with me. Those individuals would not have been quite as vociferous from 1939 to 1946 because if a person did not have an identity card during the war years, they would not qualify for a ration book and they would therefore face starvation. I simply cannot remember any kids in my classes at school suffering from obesity, which was one good feature of rationing. I had better not read the next bit of my speech, as it might not be as politically correct as members would like it to be.
Donald Gorrie also spoke eloquently about the sense of togetherness in the nation. Brian Monteith pondered why a democratically elected German Government could have become such a strong force for evil. I say to Brian Monteith that Goebbels was probably the first-ever spin doctor. Any society that could countenance the final solution must have been completely brainwashed by that propaganda expert. By the way, I must correct Mr Stevenson, probably for the first and last time. He referred to Herman Himmler, but his name was Heinrich Himmler.
The 1939 to 1945 war took place during my formative years, from the time when I was nine years old until the time when I was 15. It has had a tremendous influence on my outlook ever since. It was humbling to live through the dark years of the war and to come through those harrowing times enriched by the enormous sacrifices that were made on the nation's behalf by all those who served.
My abiding memory of VE day is the great joy of seeing the end of the hated blackout. The lights came on once again after six long years of darkness all over our nation—long may that continue. I thank every veteran who did anything to help the war effort.
This has been a reflective and, at times, emotional debate. For me and, no doubt, for many others the most poignant point in the annual calendar is the remembrance day celebration. In cities, towns and small communities throughout the country, we stand at war memorials and listen to the lingering notes of the last post. We read on the war memorials the names of those who died and annually we are reminded of the youth of those who gave their lives—young men, often not out of their teens. In my town, where many families have lived for generations, we find the names of long-lost sons, nephews, brothers and uncles on the memorial. We listen to readings that bring out the horror of war. In part, that is how we pass on the message of the inherent wickedness of war, an issue that Jamie Stone raised.
November 11 is a time for reflection. In contrast, victory in Europe day has been, is and should continue to be largely a celebration. The date of VE day may be a subject of debate, as the final surrender was signed on 7 May, a day earlier than the one that we are commemorating. Sadly, 7 May was marked by the sinking of a commercial ship by a U-boat in Scottish waters.
To me, VE day is a celebration of the overthrow of Hitler, although for many of those who were involved it is also a day for reflection on the casualties of war. It marks a victory for the rights of man over the evils of the fascist regimes and the moment when a free Europe emerged from the toils of war. We are right at this time to reflect on the ending of the European war. However, as Carolyn Leckie mentioned, we must recognise that many of our countrymen were still involved in bloody conflict in Asia, the other sphere of war.
As the First Minister, in Dundee, paid his tribute to those who fought in Europe, at a much smaller gathering across the River Tay I stood alongside the residents of the hamlet of Balmerino as they acknowledged their indebtedness to the generation that gave so much. That is how it has been and should be, with each town and village remembering its own.
The speeches that we have heard today have included many personal and family memories of war. None was more striking than that of Christine Grahame, whose strong, simple language scraped my heart and the hearts of many others who heard her. My family roots are largely in farming, which, like coal mining, was regarded as a reserved occupation. Reference has rightly been made to the contribution to the war effort that was made by miners, munitions manufacturers and steelworkers. I would like to add to that list those who produced the food. Malcolm Chisholm mentioned the Women's Land Army, but there was also the work of the war agricultural executive committees, which set food production targets for farmers and thereby ensured that the country was fed. Many in reserved occupations also played their part by joining the Home Guard. Although the Home Guard has been gently mocked by a younger generation as Dad's army, for those who donned their uniform after work it was part of their contribution to the war effort. As John Swinburne said, it was the country that was at war.
As I said, my family roots are largely in farming and despite the opportunity not to go to war, two of my uncles volunteered and went through the war from day one to the very end. They went out with the expeditionary force, happily survived Dunkirk and D-day in the tanks of the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and then on to German soil. They and tens of thousands more put years of their lives into securing victory in that ghastly war.
As Carolyn Leckie mentioned, many veterans in post-war years retained a quiet dignity. My uncles never related any of their experiences until they were old men. However, as I listened to their tales of war, it made me realise just how lucky I was to grow up in a generation free from major conflict. I support the motion and its sentiments.
Today my script is gone. Today I have heard speeches from every political side of the chamber and each contribution merits an individual response.
Few if any of us in the chamber have experienced military service. A member who did was my colleague Ben Wallace, who gave up at the last election to fight a seat at Westminster. I am pleased to say that Ben won the Lancaster and Wyre seat last week and is now a member of Parliament. It is important to have military experience in every parliamentary chamber, although I welcome the fact that members do not have that front-line experience principally because there has been a dearth of front-line experience to be had, as we move towards a more peaceful future. Sadly, I suspect that that is a forlorn hope, given human nature as it is today.
I mention one aspect of my experience that relates to Carolyn Leckie's comments about her mother moving here from London to escape the blitz. My reason for being in the chamber today is because my parents were bombed out twice in Portsmouth right at the beginning of the war and, sadly for some, they brought me to Scotland, which I believe to be my home and in which I take great pride.
The debate was commenced with the right words and the right feeling by Malcolm Chisholm. He made a tremendous speech that got to the heart of the issues about which we are thinking today. His emotive words reflected the principles that lie behind our requirement for remembrance and certainly registered with me.
The generations in the chamber will not forget the war veterans, but when I look at the remembrance services in London and see the veterans going past the cenotaph, it worries me how that will register in the future with our younger generations. Each and every one of us—every parliamentarian—has a duty to ensure that those younger generations remember what happened in the past. That is all important. Donald Gorrie referred to that and I go along entirely with his comments.
Malcolm Chisholm spoke about the 57,000 people from Scotland who died, but I wonder just how many more were injured or maimed and lived with the scars of the war for the next 40, 50, 60, and, hopefully, a few more years. I suspect that at least five times the number of dead gave much and should not be forgotten. Indeed, Mary Scanlon tried to emphasise that point when she highlighted some of the current deficiencies in our services. I hope that all of us in the Parliament will work to rectify those deficiencies. John Swinburne took a slightly different approach to highlighting them. In any case I believe that, with such an emotive debate, they must be taken on board.
Malcolm Chisholm and other members were right to emphasise the input of our civilian population and how much of a part they played. The country was at war. Everyone stood behind the coalition Government of the day, the troops and the industries. Most important, they stood side by side with one another in trying to combat the tragedies that they were learning of daily.
People talk about the stress that is felt by people in today's society. However, I cannot imagine the stress that individuals must have felt at that time. Christine Grahame referred to civilians dressed in soldiers' clothing. That was our army in 1939. Those individuals were plucked out of their families and thrust into the front line, not to return home—if they were lucky enough to return home—for five years or more. I believe that today's stress levels cannot compare with those felt at that time. We should simply think about the stress that was felt by individuals during the war and be grateful.
Malcolm Chisholm mentioned that veterans feel the psychological effects of war up to 14 years later. It is with some shame that I greet the efforts of the Conservative and subsequent Governments to disprove the effects of post-traumatic stress that Chris Ballance mentioned. I also fully endorse Mr Ballance's comments about Hollybush House. Governments of different political shades have not done credit to our troops, particularly those who participated in the Kuwait war, by trying to avoid their responsibilities on this matter.
When we think about the veterans of the war from 1939 to 1945, we should also remember the great war, which people were told was the war to end all wars. However, that was not the case either with that war or with the war that ended in 1945. Since 1945, there have been conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Malaya—you name it, there has been a war there. Indeed, we went to war in the Falkland Islands. Stewart Stevenson's story about Fraserburgh highlights the horrendous decisions that politicians have to make. When politicians decide to go to war, they are probably taking the most important and serious decision that they can be faced with. Such a decision cannot be easy; indeed, I hope that I will never have to face it during my political life. Given that that life is now relatively short, I doubt that that will happen.
When Andrew Welsh mentioned the Scottish regiments, I was reminded that, before 1939, we were taken in by the claim that we had had a war to end all wars and we laid down our arms. When war broke out, we were unprepared, which is why we put civilians in soldiers' uniforms and sent them to the front line. It is the Government's duty to ensure that that never happens again. No matter how serene the international scene might be, some usurper somewhere in the world is lurking and waiting to take advantage.
It is the responsibility of the Government, particularly in this country, to ensure that we are prepared. There are often words of condemnation when Governments spend money on defence and armaments, but every penny spent on a defence matter that secures peace in the longer term is money well spent. If we pick up that message and Donald Gorrie's message about ensuring that our young people do not forget, perhaps we will do a service to those veterans who have done so much for our country and for every one of us in the chamber today.
First, I apologise on behalf of my colleague Andrew Welsh, who asked me to do so because he had to leave the chamber for an urgent appointment.
The motion that has been lodged by the Executive can meet with no disagreement from anyone in the chamber or in the country. The debt of gratitude that we owe to all the veterans who served their country in world war two is immense. I am pleased that we are having this debate to record that gratitude again in the Official Report and to give the recognition mentioned by the minister not only to the individuals but to the organisations that assist veterans and work tirelessly on their behalf.
I was interested to hear about the on-going programme of veteran-related work, because it is true that there are still difficulties with perceptions of neglect and, in some cases, actual neglect. For example, the ex-personnel of Christmas island have an on-going campaign and of course there are on-going debates about gulf war syndrome.
All the contributions have been extremely interesting, as have some of the personal stories that we heard. Christine Grahame talked about a friend of her father and about Mark Hirst's grandfather, and Karen Whitefield talked about a member of her family who was directly involved. Those personal stories bring home the absolute horror of war when we sit and listen to them. When Jamie Stone asked how we can bring it home to children, I thought back to my own childhood.
I was born in the mid-1950s and I did not really have a conception of what war was about. I remember—in fact, it is one of my earliest memories—sitting and watching a television programme that those of my age group and older will remember. It was called "All Our Yesterdays". I can tell by Johann Lamont's smile that she remembers it. It featured stark black-and-white figures who talked about the war, and there was a clipped BBC-pronunciation presenter—whenever I listen to James Douglas-Hamilton, I remember that TV programme. It was like stories that did not quite seem real. It did not really touch us at all. I was interested in what Carolyn Leckie said about the war poets, because I had to study them at school. I am not a great poetry lover, but there was one poem that made me think for the first time about war in a different way from all the glory stuff that we often heard about. I think that it was by Wilfred Owen. I cannot remember the name of the poem, but I have never forgotten the first line, the first three words of which were, "Our brains ache". That was a powerful image to me as an adolescent, thinking of that level of pain.
One thing that I learned when I started reading about the war was that the second world war was a very, very just war, because it had a concrete reason for people going to fight an enemy. That enemy was the offensive politics moving across Europe at that time. The second world war was, of course, preceded by the Spanish civil war and the contributions that were made by the international brigades, from our country and others, in the Spanish civil war have to be recognised as well. Irene Oldfather is right to say that we have to guard against that happening again, because these things are still there in Europe. Whatever problems anybody has with the European Union, at least by having it we are recognising where these things are growing and we are able to take action to fight against them.
Karen Whitefield, Andrew Welsh and John Swinburne spoke about the efforts that everyone made during the war. Everyone who is involved in war makes some sort of effort.
I pay tribute to the foreign nationals who were interned during the war in the north of Ireland, the Isle of Man and Orkney, the majority of whom were Italians. I am talking not about those who went on to be deported but those who came back home to their own families and communities in Scotland during the war. They contributed to the war effort of the entire civilian population because they felt that they were in it for Scotland and were fighting against the same enemy against which the rest of the country was fighting.
Donald Gorrie mentioned the United Nations, which grew out of the League of Nations after the second world war. As Irene Oldfather said in relation to the European Union, international organisations that preserve partnerships between nations are vital and must be kept. We can talk about the corruption that exists in the UN and how that institution must be reformed, but let us never forget the importance of having international organisations that strive to preserve peace.
Scottish people are very international in their outlook—they are internationalists—so although the motion is about acknowledging the ultimate sacrifice that Scots made, I want to pay tribute to those from other countries who fought on our part in the war. Those countries have their own veterans. More than 1.5 million Indians were in the services and we all know about the legendary tales of the Gurkhas. Labour market shortages meant that 800 forestry workers from the tropics were brought to work in the Scottish Highlands. Of the 300 West Indians who flew for the RAF, 90 received medals for bravery. Britain's west African colonies in Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria served as staging posts and military bases during world war two. When the French colonies in west Africa were freed from Vichy domination, the west African British troops who were no longer needed in such great numbers for Home Guard duties were moved to Burma together with some of the east African brigades. Today, I was fascinated to learn that, in all, some 166,500 Africans were involved in helping to defeat the Japanese. All those people fought for freedom against the tyranny that would have triumphed in Europe had we not managed to stop it.
I will read out a quote from the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League, which asks:
"What made 5 million people from the Commonwealth volunteer to fight the Second World War alongside the 6 million British Forces? Who were these people and what motivated them? They were people who believed in freedom and were happy to fight alongside"
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"to make this World a safer place … They came from all over the Commonwealth, a million from Canada; 2.5 million from the Indian sub-continent; from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, the Far East and from across Africa."
Some of those people have become new Scots; the members of their families are now second and third-generation Scots and believe themselves to be truly Scottish.
Sadly, we still have wars, as Chris Ballance mentioned. We have wars within, between and among nations. There is a vast amount of conflict going on in the world. We must pay tribute to those who still fight in conflicts and lay down their lives on our behalf. It is not just regular soldiers who go to the front line; there are peacekeepers all over the world who act on the part of the UN.
There is also the Territorial Army, which goes to front-line conflict situations alongside the regular Army. The other day, I was disturbed to learn from the radio about the number of TA volunteers who need to go for therapy because, in the aftermath of war, they are suffering from post-traumatic stress. The 14-year issue was mentioned. I pay tribute to the members of the TA, who work very hard to defend this nation.
We are at war at the moment, although now is not the time to discuss that in any great detail. We are saluting the veterans of a past war. Regardless of political views around the chamber, we should and could all say that we hope for an end to the conflict that our countries are involved in as soon as possible, so that we have fewer veterans to salute in future.
It is a great privilege to respond to what has been a good and moving debate. When I was first appointed to my current position, I was aware of some of the difficult challenges that might face me, but it was when I was informed that I was the veterans minister that I felt overwhelmed and humbled. I feel humbled today to know that there are veterans in the gallery. It is an honour to have such a responsibility.
Like Linda Fabiani, when I was at school I learned, through poetry, about the horrors of war. There were some who thought that there was a contradiction between understanding the horror of war, and marking and commemorating those who had suffered in war. For me, one reinforced the other. Remembrance day is always a significant day, for no matter why we fight we know that those who suffer and pay a sacrifice have to be respected. In cherishing the development of our new Parliament, it is fitting that we reflect that, as Sarah Boyack pointed out to me, our nearest neighbours are the veterans of Whitefoord House, without whom we would not be here. In our work, we should respect the sacrifice that they have made for us. Today we seek to mark, commemorate and acknowledge the courage of all those involved in the war effort. We are all too aware that no matter how carefully we have chosen our words—and I believe that everybody has done that today—we can never truly capture the courage and comradeship that was shown. It was not an unthinking courage, nor a bravery without fear, but surely, amazingly, a bravery despite the dangers and fears that people faced.
Last year, I had the privilege to visit the site of the D-day landings and to see where the soldiers fought. On one occasion, I visited a war cemetery in Crete and was overwhelmed by the way in which it had been maintained. I remember not only the cenotaph in my own great city, which marks the sacrifice made there but the little graveyard on the island of Tiree, where we can see the price that was paid by a small island community. The merchant seamen paid greatly as well. In the graveyard on Tiree, there are gravestones to unknown soldiers and to seamen of the first and second world wars. We have to remember that people suffered.
Malcolm Chisholm mentioned the Arctic convoys. Successive Governments have failed to recognise the sacrifices that were made by those in the convoys. Is there anything that the minister could do to encourage recognition, even at this late stage?
We are trying to mark the sacrifice of all those in the war, and I will reflect further on the points that have been made about what we could do in relation to those matters.
I remember my mother talking of people who came back to Tiree who had been prisoners of war. They never spoke about it. We wonder what pain they suffered on their own. Across Europe and north Africa, and in the jungles of the far east, Scots servicemen fought alongside their allied comrades, always with the same objective: to turn back fascism and tyranny. The people of Scotland and the Parliament owe a great amount to those men and women who fought to preserve our freedoms, our democracy and our way of life. The debt of gratitude can never be greater than when we remember those who fell in combat, or who died incarcerated in prisoner of war camps. In this, the 60th anniversary of the cessation of hostilities, we remember the contribution not just of those who died on active service—and those who still die on active service—but of those who remained here in Scotland, on the home front. We remember men and women—perhaps, as has been said today, in our own families—whose resilience and resourcefulness saw them through conscription, rationing, evacuation, the blitz in 1941 and the fear of invasion. Their contribution in keeping the agricultural, industrial and civic machinery of the nation running cannot be dismissed lightly.
Life was difficult. We should remember what was at stake. It was not a given that fascism could be defeated and it was not assumed that fascism would be destroyed. Fascism represented a huge and terrifying challenge to the nature of our society. We need to be vigilant, because fascism emerged out of a democracy and it could be argued that it emerged from a failure of our international endeavours. We must remember the importance of being vigilant and hold tight to the importance of what Europe and the international community represent. When we describe one another in political debate we must remember what we share and what divides us from what we were fighting in those days. We should show, in our language, a respect for our democracy and perhaps not run too quickly to condemn others for what Nazism represented.
Thankfully, the allies prevailed, in the far east as well as in Europe, but as we commemorate the end of the second world war this year we do so knowing that it is perhaps the last major commemoration that veterans of that war shall be able to attend. That is why throughout the summer a whole series of commemorative events will take place throughout Scotland. Those events are too numerous to detail now, but I urge people to make contact with Veterans Scotland, the Veterans Agency or the Royal British Legion Scotland, which will all have details of what will happen in local communities.
Do not underestimate the importance of those events in keeping alive awareness of what happened. The commemorative events that took place last weekend prompted my seven-year-old son to ask what happened and why the celebrations were taking place. I noted his shock when I told him about the second world war. He asked me, "Did 6 million Jews really die simply because they were Jews?" His shock brought afresh to me a realisation of the horror of what the second world war was about. When we commemorate, we bring alive the history for our young people and that brings a capacity to learn the lessons of what it represented.
In addition to local events there will be two further major national events of commemoration. At the end of veterans awareness week on 10 July, the national service of commemoration will take place in the high kirk of St Giles in Edinburgh, following an impressive parade down the Royal Mile. On 14 August, the Royal British Legion Scotland will mark the anniversary of victory in Japan day with a major parade in Glasgow that will be attended by up to 2,000 veterans. That will be followed by a beating of the retreat at the Kelvin Hall. I encourage everyone who wishes to do so to attend those events and to show their gratitude and respect for Scotland's veterans community.
Veterans awareness week will run from 3 July to 10 July throughout the entire United Kingdom. Although commemoration will feature during the week, the focus will be on raising the awareness among the public—and indeed among politicians—of what it is to be a veteran in 2005. Many people define a veteran as someone who fought in one of the world wars and therefore think that they should be old and venerable. However, a veteran is defined as any person who has served in the armed forces for any length of time, their spouses and their dependants. They do not require to have seen active service in a combat zone.
As has been said, our words of commemoration are important but, as Lord James Douglas-Hamilton and others have said, they must be matched by a commitment to address the needs of veterans. We know that the vast majority of ex-service personnel make a successful transition back into civilian life when they leave the forces. However, that is unfortunately not the case for some, who, for any number of reasons, can face seemingly insurmountable barriers to transition.
For those veterans, the first port of call is often one of the many veterans benevolent organisations and charities that work so selflessly throughout the country. In some cases all that is required is some understanding, some helpful advice—on anything from benefit claims to housing applications—and perhaps some practical assistance, for example to gain employment. That is another example of how powerful harnessing the voluntary sector and working with charitable organisations can be in delivering the aspirations of the Government and the Parliament. Those charitable organisations understand the need better than we do. Our commitment must be to drive policy from where they have identified that need.
More specialist care and support are required by many who have mental or physical disabilities. That is where charities such as Combat Stress—I am mindful of the comments that were made about the issues there—and Erskine come to the fore. I know from the Deputy Presiding Officer, Trish Godman, who is unable to speak in the debate today, how important and effective the work of Erskine is. It is important that those organisations and charities receive not only our recognition but our support.
The Executive has already put in place a series of programmes and policies that will support our veterans and help to prevent them from dropping into social exclusion. That reflects our determination to understand inequality and disadvantage, however it is expressed, and challenge its causes. Veterans have to be part of that overall approach to dealing with those who are disadvantaged. Of course, more could always be done, and often it will not be the Government that is in a position to deliver it. That is why we liaise closely with our colleagues at the Ministry of Defence and are building on our relations with Veterans Scotland and the Scottish veterans community at large.
We have to think about veterans when we are talking about employability—what will help them and support their particular needs in the labour market? We have to understand the needs of veterans when we talk about homelessness and we are going to work hard to implement the recommendations of the homelessness task force. We have to form new partnerships across Government and work with the veterans organisations to see where we can help to meet the needs of Scotland's ex-servicemen and women. Were it not for the allied victory in 1945 we might not be here, in a democratically elected chamber, to debate the motion in the first place. We owe it to them to ensure that the Parliament is a power for good, for veterans' families and for generations to come.
Fifty-seven thousand Scottish men were lost in a total of 61 million people killed. That represents 1 per cent of Scotland's resident population in 1945. More important, it represents thousands of grieving widows and mothers, devastated families and orphaned children. It represents a sacrifice not just for the nation's defence but for its values, its freedoms and its democracy, and it is a sacrifice that allows today's veterans the opportunity to live with dignity and pride.
I urge Parliament to support the motion. It has been a privilege to be part of the debate. We have to send a clear and unequivocal message of recognition, thanks and support to all in Scotland's veterans community, young and old. Today's debate marks our respect, but it also represents a huge challenge for Government and all of us in our actions to understand the needs of veterans; to understand the power of what they did on our behalf; and to ensure that we do our bit to make Scotland a place where people are treated with respect and equality.