Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Meeting date: Thursday, November 7, 2024

Official Report 1071KB pdf

Remembrance Day

I invite the party leaders to make some brief remarks to mark remembrance day.

On Sunday, Scotland pays tribute to the brave men and women who laid down their lives to protect our country and the freedoms that we all enjoy. Their bravery and their sacrifice make possible the peace and the liberty that we all so rightly cherish today. We remember them in our hearts and we commit ourselves to work for the peaceful and democratic way of life for which they made the ultimate sacrifice. [Applause.]

This week, we solemnly remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our country and in protection of our values. Those who fought in the first world war are no longer with us, and those who witnessed the horrors of the second world war become ever fewer. As conflict continues to claim innocent lives around the world, I and my party pay tribute to Britain’s armed forces for keeping us safe. For all of the fallen and for all those who continue to serve, we will remember them. [Applause.]

This weekend, we will mark remembrance Sunday—the day when we remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and to face down tyranny. It is also a day when we recommit to the cause of peace across the world—a cause that has never been more important. As we prepare for remembrance Sunday, we must come together to remember the lives that we have lost and to commit to supporting our current serving men and women.

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”

[Applause.]

Presiding Officer, thank you for giving us this time today to remember and be grateful. I grew up in a time of peace and plenty. I have never known war, and I am so grateful to the people and democratic institutions that have made that possible. We said “never again” after the wars of the early 20th century, and yet violent conflict once again tears our world apart, destroying homes, lives, communities and futures. War crimes and genocide have not been banished to the past; they are being committed today, as the world looks on and is complicit.

I fear for the future. As existing conflicts escalate and democratic ideals retreat, will children in the future be able to grow up in peace and plenty? We take this moment to acknowledge everyone who has suffered and is suffering because of war, and to remember our responsibilities in creating and nurturing peace. [Applause.]

Every year, as they plough their fields, the farmers of Arras, Thiepval and Passchendaele unearth bullets, shrapnel and other material of war. It is called “the iron harvest” and, more than a century later, it serves as a reminder of the supreme sacrifice made by so many for the freedoms that we all enjoy today.

I am struck that, right now, that same material of war is being buried in the soils of Ukraine, as the fighting men and women of the armed forces of Ukraine fight as a firebreak to protect the freedoms of the democracies that we all enjoy. This remembrance Sunday and every remembrance Sunday, we will choose to remember those who have fallen in the supreme service of this country and those who are falling still to protect the freedoms that we all enjoy. [Applause.]