Melanie Ward

I beg to move, That this House has considered the role of war memorials. It is a pleasure to lead my first Westminster Hall debate under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I thank colleagues from across the House for joining me in this important discussion on the role that war memorials play in our communities and country. This Friday marks the centenary of Kirkcaldy’s war memorial and galleries, with commemorations running from the end of this week to a ceremony next Wednesday, with a military parade and some very special guests. I am leading the debate to pay tribute to those who have maintained Kirkcaldy’s memorial, galleries and gardens over the past century, as well as providing Members with an opportunity to raise important memorials in their own constituencies. All of us in this House represent areas with war memorials. While our country has huge regional diversity, war memorials form a thread that runs through our national landscape, from the Cenotaph on Whitehall, just outside this place, to North Ronaldsay, the most northerly island of Orkney. Those quiet monuments to sacrifice bring us together and bind us. They remind us that no city, town or village has been spared the pain and loss that conflict has brought to the families of the fallen. What we most admire about the more than 100,000 war memorials in Britain are, of course, their quiet beauty and the opportunity they afford for contemplation and remembrance, but it is also their inherently egalitarian nature that makes them so respected. Prior to the Boer war, our memorials celebrated great victories and leaders. Just up the road from this place, Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column serve as a reminder of that. Yet after the Boer war and the devastation of the first world war, it was widely accepted that we needed a new, more sombre and respectful form of remembrance, which did away with class and military rank, listing each soldier equally as an individual who had given their life for our country.