Armistice 2025: Speech

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Many of the men who fought in the Great War believed that they were fighting in a
war to end all wars. Sadly, they were mistaken.
Less than 20 years later the world was plunged into a new conflict and ever since
wars have continued to rage around the globe.
As we speak, men women and children are still being killed in Ukraine, Gaza, South
Sudan and a depressing number of other places.

What, if anything, do these tragic events have to do with the Last Post Ceremony?
Can a ceremony dedicated to the remembrance of men who died more than 100
years ago, say anything about the problems of the world today?

Remembrance is not simply a question of honouring the memory of those who died.
It is also about remembering the reasons why they died.
It is about questioning whether those reasons were valid.
It is about considering the possibilities to prevent any repetition.
Ceremonies like the Last Post not only provide a context for thinking about these
matters in terms of the past, but also encourage us to reflect on how we would
answer those same questions today.
The values under attack in our present-day society are the same as they were in 1914
and 1939. The loss of life in Donbas, Darfur and Gaza City is no less tragic than the
slaughter of the trenches.
There are parallels to be drawn and lessons to be learnt.

Should we be pessimistic about these matters? I think not.
Remembrance not only gives us an understanding of the past but also suggests
possible guidelines for the present: it gives us hope for the future.
Most of us standing here today have enjoyed peaceful and prosperous lives, lived in
unbroken freedom.
In this sense, we are the living proof that the sacrifices made by men and women in
WW1, were not wholly in vain.
This, too, is what we remember when the Last Post is played:
that after war comes peace;
that after destruction comes reconstruction,
that after enmity comes reconciliation,
that after mistrust comes understanding.

But this does not happen by itself. It will only happen if we are true to ourselves and
hold fast to the things we believe to be right.
We, all present here today, therefore have a responsibility, each of us in our own
way, to ensure that we live up to the example set by the men on these walls who went before us.