I was always going to watch the Queen’s address to the nation on the 75th anniversary of VE day. It wouldn’t move me, though. I’d just watch it, pour another glass of something red and then do something else. But I certainly wouldn’t hang around for We’ll Meet Again. Not for me, you see. But I did hang around and it was for me.
Tuning in just before 9.00 pm, we saw Prince William and Kate Middleton talking to some very senior citizens. That wasn’t for me, either. Yet it was. I was struck by the natural empathy shown by the royals. They seemed so genuinely interested in the people they were talking to. I wished I watched the whole show. Oh well.
The Queen was simply brilliant. Pitch perfect, not a word out of place. She’s done this stuff before. The royal family mighty seem to many, including me, a strange relic from the past, yet somehow her maj built a bridge between VE day in 1945 and today’s commemoration. Somehow, she conveyed the spirit of VE day and also recalled that for many around the world the war did not end for some months. In my head, I’m a republican but in my heart although I am not a fully blown royalist I’m happy to maintain the status quo. We’ll Meet Again, though. I’ll give that a miss. Except that I didn’t.
In a few minutes of televisual magic that only the BBC can deliver, We’ll Meet Again formed the bridge from 1945 to 2020 with people from all walks of life singing a line from the song, which was beautifully woven together by the programme makers.
It reminded us of today’s heroes, too. Our brave service personnel who keep our country safe and secure, our NHS workers and people from all walks of life who have risen to the occasion, not this time in war but in a national emergency. It reminded us of who and what really matters.
For a few moments, I regained the pride I had in my country, a pride that has been severely shaken in recent years by political events; a country that remains bitterly divided. The Queen has tonight done her bit. Now it’s time for the the government to do its bit, too, to unite the country for the tough days ahead. Some strong leadership here, some compromise there. No more lies, no more spin.
The country is descending into a long and deep economic recession when thousands of businesses will go to the wall and millions of jobs will be lost. And at the same time, many thousands are going to die from Covid-19.
United, we can get through this terrible crisis, the like of which we have never seen in our lifetimes. In the 1930s, rabble-rousing populist politicians brought about the war we commemorated today. Back then, social and economic circumstances were ripe for simple solutions to complex problems. We must work to ensure those circumstances do not develop in Britain or anywhere else in the world. History shows what can happen if we don’t.
