They’d turn in their graves
I’m proud to say that my great grandfather fought in the First World War, surviving that awful conflict in the hope that he, like many others, had seen the “war to end all wars”.
Sadly, as we know, this wasn't to be the case, and his two sons had to follow in his footsteps and take to the battlefields of Europe to oppose the onslaught of Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
Tragically, only one of them survived to return home, yet despite our family’s terrible loss, along with those of countless other families, he and his fellow servicemen and women did so in the knowledge that the sacrifices of so many were not in vain.
They had helped defeat the Nazis and preserved freedom for this once great nation of ours.
Freedom and a sense of hope; a hope that their sons and daughters would have a better future than them – a one in which they could live a comfortable and prosperous life.
Oh how they would turn in their graves if they could see what is happening here now (not to mention the awful pictures coming out of Ukraine, thanks to the war being waged by one of our former Second World War allies).
People in this so-called Great Britain of ours, having already had to suffer hardship due to the recent austerity measures, now they’re being hit with a cost of living crisis and soaring energy prices that will cripple many family budgets and leave them having to chose between heating and eating.
I don’t remember my great granddad or my dad talking about foodbanks, but I think I will still be taking to my son about them when he’s old enough to be a great granddad – and that’s the sorry state this country is in, no thanks to our politicians who don’t seem up to the job of governing us.
Fred Harris, sent via email.