By Martin Deighton
May 8th is VE day and is a holiday in France. It does not celebrate a defeat of the German people. It celebrates the defeat of the Nazis and Fascism in Europe.
The rise of this fanatical nationalism and racism had torn Europe apart and cost the lives of over fifty million people.
France suffered two hundred and eighty thousand military deaths and five hundred and sixty seven thousand civilian deaths.
Total losses of UK military and civilian people were similar.
After this terrible tragedy it is almost inconceivable that we are now recognising a new rise in nationalism and racism in the UK and in France and across Europe.
We have leaders using the same rhetoric and incitement of their 1930’s counterparts to re-light a fire in order to tear European Unity apart.
Whatever we vote for in the forthcoming European Elections we must not allow the Brexit Party and UKIP and the extreme Nationalist Parties across Europe to destroy our unity of nations. We must all remain part of that hard won unity and work to improve it, build upon it and constantly reform it.
We must not let our predecessors down. We must not let our children and future generations down.
We must vote to remain united.