Kirsty McNeill

I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Havant (Alan Mak) for securing this important debate. He spoke movingly and has given the House an opportunity to mark the 25th anniversary of the deadly terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Twenty-five years on, it can be tempting to think of 9/11 as a moment in history—an event, perhaps, for a textbook, museum or documentary. Those, of course, are important, and I will come to them later, but for thousands of families, 9/11 is not history at all; it is a memory deeply felt of someone who left home that morning and never returned. So today we begin with them. We remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. We remember the victims from more than 90 countries. We remember the 67 British citizens who lost their lives. We stand with those who lost people they loved and those who have carried that loss for a quarter of a century. The hon. Member for Havant spoke movingly about his constituent Sally Taber and the loss of her godson, Oli Bennett. I pay tribute to Oli and offer my deepest sympathies to Sally, to all his family and to all those who knew and loved him. The charitable work established in his memory is a truly powerful example of how a life can continue to inspire hope and opportunity for others. We should also remember and honour the extraordinary courage that was shown that day by the firefighters who climbed the stairs of the World Trade Centre while thousands of people were trying to escape, and by the police officers, paramedics and ordinary members of the public who did extraordinary things, putting the safety of others before their own. Passengers aboard Flight 93 acted with remarkable bravery. As my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) said, many first responders lost their lives, but others have lived with the physical and mental effects of what they experienced. Their courage deserves more than our admiration; it deserves our lasting remembrance. The courage we remember today was individual, but the response that followed was truly collective, as the hon. Members for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) and for Strangford (Jim Shannon) have told us. For 25 years, the United Kingdom and the United States have stood together in remembrance, and we do so again as we mark this anniversary. The hon. Member for Havant asked about closer educational and commemorative links with the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Our diplomatic network in the United States has worked closely with American partners and other stakeholders in support of this anniversary, and we will continue to look for opportunities to deepen US-UK co-operation in that regard. My hon. Friend the Minister for the Americas represents His Majesty’s Government at commemorative events in New York today, including at the National September 11 Memorial at Ground Zero and at a special memorial at the Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden. There, he will join victims, families, survivors, first responders, American representatives and international partners. Here in the United Kingdom, the anniversary was marked this morning with a special changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. It echoed the special programme of music played there on 13 September 2001, when the British and American national anthems were played as a clear signal of our unity and support. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary stood alongside the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, Warren Stephens, to remember. They were joined by representatives of victims’ families and UK emergency services. Those events cannot undo the pain of the past, but they are a way of us saying that all lives that were lost still matter, their sacrifices still matter, and we will never forget what happened. The hon. Member for Havant rightly focused on our responsibility to pass the memory of 9/11 on to a new generation. Many of us remember where we were when we heard the news, and my hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Matt Turmaine) reflected on that powerfully, but many young people have no memory of that day; many were not yet born. Future generations should understand what happened and why it mattered. Education should explain clearly the harm caused by terrorism. It should tell the stories of the victims, and it should recognise the courage of the first responders. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum plays a vital role in preserving such stories and helping new generations understand both the scale of the attacks and the individual lives affected. Wider digital archives allow people around the world to hear testimony, see photographs and explore historical records, and the UK is playing its part too. Through institutions such as the National Archives, records connected to September 11th are being preserved so that future generations can continue to learn from them. The hon. Member for Havant asked about how 9/11 is taught and remembered in schools, and I will ensure that his points are drawn to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary and the Minister for the Americas. The attacks of September 11th demonstrated, with truly tragic clarity, why our collective security matters. Following 9/11, NATO invoked article 5 for the first time in its history, because our allies recognised that an attack on one was an attack on all. In the years that followed, British and American service personnel would stand side by side once again in Afghanistan. Many never returned home, and we remember them today, too, and recognise the lasting impact on veterans and military families. Today, this House has come together to remember those who lost their lives, honour the courage shown that day, and stand with the families and communities whose lives were changed forever. As we mark this 25th anniversary, let us remember that behind every single statistic was a person, behind every headline was a family and behind every act of remembrance is a promise: “You will never be forgotten.” Question put and agreed to.