United in gratitude

iN a month and a day, we will traipse to polling stations and cast our votes to shape Britain’s future.

So it is apt that today at 11 o’clock, the time the guns fell silent in the great War, we remember the ‘glorious Dead’ – those who sacrificed their futures for our freedom in all conflicts. We also remember the gallantry of those who fought and lived, those who still fight, the wounded and bereaved.

We, who depend on the bravery of others to keep us safe, should never forget how much we ask of them.

Yet shamefully, some have forgotten. The eminent former US general David Petraeus condemns the appalling legal witch-hunt officials are conducting against some soldiers who risked life and limb for Britain.

We applaud ministers, then, for promising to rewrite the loathed Human Rights Act to protect troops from merciless hounding.

Yesterday, the Royal Family – as ever, putting duty before self – led the nation in paying respects to the war dead.

Political leaders also took part in the twominute silence. (A polite note to Jeremy Corbyn, who failed to attend Saturday’s Festival of Remembrance because of the floods: The Tommies on the Western Front valiantly overcame a little more adversity than that).

At weather-beaten monuments across the land, this solemn wreath-laying tribute was echoed. in an era of perpetual distractions and discord, these commemorations, when communities come together in gratitude and silence, should be held dear.