Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00and victory in Europe or VE Day. It was and still remains a major milestone in our history of deep
00:09importance to Wales, the UK and the wider world. It commemorates the end of a conflict that deeply
00:16affected Welsh communities with over 15,000 Welsh people losing their lives and many more injured.
00:24The 8th of May, 1945, what a day that was, a day that marked the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. VE Day,
00:35victory in Europe. This wasn't just another date in the history books. This was a moment
00:42that changed lives, that changed Wales, that changed our world. For us in Wales, this wasn't some distant
00:52battlefield victory. This touched every street, every village, every family. Over 15,000 Welsh
01:02people never came home. Thousands more returned with wounds both visible and hidden. We must never
01:11forget them. And while we're marking VE Day now, I also want to acknowledge the 15th of August, VJ Day,
01:21when the Second World War truly ended. We'll be in recess then, which is why I'm speaking about both
01:28today. You know, I've always thought the word victory can sometimes feel a bit harsh,
01:35winners and losers and all that. I prefer to think of it as the end of war, the beginning of peace,
01:44because that's what truly matters. This anniversary is about honouring ordinary Welsh people who did
01:52extraordinary things. People who served far from home, people who kept our communities running
01:58through the darkest days. I know many members here today will have their own family stories to share.
02:07Think about what our communities endured. Loved ones gone for years. Strict rationing and the terror
02:15of bombs falling. This wasn't a faraway war. It brought terror to Wales, in particular through the Blitz and
02:25its raids on the ports of South Wales and Pembroke Dock. My own father's house took a direct hit
02:33in Tremorva, in Cardiff Docks. It was utterly obliterated and luckily they'd just reached the Anderson
02:42shelter in time. Whilst my mother, until very recently, talked about the one stray bomb that landed near the
02:51playground in St David's in Pembrokeshire. Can you imagine what that day felt like 80 years ago? The sheer
02:59relief and joy that swept across Wales. Church bells ringing out, streets filled with dancing communities
03:06coming together after years of sacrifice. That spirit of togetherness, it's something that's what we're
03:14trying to recreate this week. And I've been so moved to see communities across Wales holding events, sharing food
03:21and stories, and that together coalition's big lunch has been particularly wonderful, bringing people together just as they
03:29came together 80 years ago. I was deeply touched by the coalition's open letter from VE veterans, including our own
03:37Welsh voices, Jean Rhys, who served in the US Navy, and John Eskdale, a Royal Marine Commando. Their words remind us
03:46what this commemoration truly means.
03:52Tomorrow evening we'll hold a national service of thanksgiving at Llandaf Cathedral, a place that tells its own story of destruction and of rebuilding. That mine crater from 1941, now a peaceful memorial garden.
04:15And it says everything about how we moved forward. On VE Day itself, I'll be at Westminster Abbey with the Prime Minister and other leaders. Here at the Senate, the Royal British Legion
04:24will hold a special commemoration. And I'm sure that many of you will be there too. My colleague, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, will be there to represent our government.
04:38Now most of those who fought are no longer with us. But for our oldest citizens, those who were children at the time,
04:49VE Day remains one of those moments where they can tell you exactly where they were and how they felt when the end of the war was announced.
05:02And what I find most powerful about this anniversary is how it reminds us that our victory wasn't just Welsh or British.
05:11It was a global effort. People from every corner of the world came together to defeat the darkness of Nazism.
05:22And that diversity is now reflected in who we are as a nation. And we should celebrate that.
05:31But the contribution didn't just come from those in uniform. Think about the women working in our factories.
05:38The Bevan boys down in the mines. The land army keeping us fed. And the merchant navy keeping supplies flowing.
05:47Everyone played their part. When we see those iconic images of celebration from 1945.
05:56Let us remember the complexity behind those images. For so many people, it was bittersweet.
06:05Joy mixed with grief for those who would never return. And an awareness that fighting continued in the Far East.
06:15Last week, I had the incredible honour of meeting two women. Both of them were 101 years of age who used to work at Bletchley Park.
06:27Now, what an extraordinary privilege speaking to these remarkable individuals who changed the course of the war literally by helping to break the codes.
06:42Through their brilliance. Through their brilliance, their dedication and their absolute secrecy.
06:49They succeeded in shortening the conflict by an estimated two to four years, saving countless lives.
06:57And what struck me most was that they kept everything so secret for decades.
07:07One of the women had never told her husband that she had been working at Bletchley Park.
07:15These are the unsung heroes, the mathematicians, the linguists, the puzzle solvers, the administrators.
07:24So make us reflect on the value and fragility of peace.
07:31I felt particularly proud that in 2020, as Minister for International Relations, I approved funding for the Academy Heddoch at the Welsh Centre for International Affairs.
07:43I believe deeply that Wales, though small, has an important voice in encouraging peace.
07:50And the annual peace lecture demonstrates that commitment.
07:55We should remember, too, that Wales is home to the world's first department of international politics at Aberystwyth, established after the First World War specifically to further the cause of justice and peace.
08:11And I often think about what Archbishop Rowan Williams, chair of the Academy Heddoch, says.
08:18He says peace isn't just about the absence of conflict.
08:22It's about understanding one another as a gift, welcoming and treasuring one another, embracing what comes to us from our neighbours.
08:34Sadly, our world today still knows too much conflict.
08:38As we were during the Second World War, Wales remains a nation of sanctuary.
08:45My heart goes out to those who have found refuge with us, who have no victory to celebrate, whose homes remain in conflict zones.
08:58So today we remember the sacrifice of past generations.
09:01We give thanks that a terrible period of war ended.
09:05We cherish the freedoms that were won, and we're looking forward, and we commit ourselves to building peace whenever we can, as the proud and compassionate nation that we are.
09:21Thank you, Prime Minister.
09:22Thank you, Prime Minister.
09:23Thank you, Prime Minister, for your statement.
09:25Thank you, Prime Minister.
09:26Thank you, Becky.
09:27Thank you, Prime Minister.
09:28Thank you, please.
09:29Thank you, Prime Minister.
09:30And how do we make this Circuit statute mean to the Anschluss statement to the House with
09:31whole land?
09:32There's no formal statement to the House with noelions.
09:33This is a hypothetical statement.