VE Day shines on if what Britain fought for is never wasted

TODAY marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day and it should stir something deep and profound in every Briton's soul.

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Not just nostalgia or national pride, but powerful, enduring gratitude for a generation that faced down tyranny and secured the freedom we now enjoy, often far too casually.

And yet in this milestone year, something feels slightly off. The memory of that hard-won victory appears to be slipping. Not from the minds of those who served and remain with us most now in their late-nineties or beyond but from the public as a whole. From the priorities of our institutions. From the hearts of those who owe everything to the courage of a generation that stood unflinching before the abyss.

It’s not just that this is the last big anniversary “within living memory”. It’s that we seem to be drifting from the values they fought to protect. Freedom. Responsibility. Unity. That sacred thread connecting past to present feels, today, to be stretched to snapping point.

I found it incredibly moving to see Alan Kennett, nearly 101, give permission for the VE Day parade to begin. “Carry on,” he declared, a centurion of our time. And to see the Wales children shyly shaking hands with veterans, and Prince George listening to an old soldier’s story. The RAF flypast, the Garrison Sergeant Major's salute and a rousing rendition of The White Cliffs of Dover. All of these things matter.