Veteran: 'This isn't just a funding cut it's the ultimate snub to those who never came home'

NAVY hero Peter Kent says veterans have been betrayed by the Government - after it U-turned and refused to fund their final D-Day salute.

- Giles Sheldrick

Labour has turned its back on the few Second World War survivors left by reneging on a pledge made to the Daily Express to pay for their return to Normandy in June.

The "morally unacceptable" and "shameful" move sparked outrage as No 10 had given assurances that funds would be made available to help veterans take a last stand.

Mr Kent, who served on HMS Adventure helping Allied troops and supplies reach the beaches of northern France and who celebrates his 100th birthday this weekend, said: "I watched friends fall beside me fighting for freedom. We gave everything our youth, our peace of mind, our brothers in arms.

"To be told the Government would help us honour them this year only to have that promise torn away feels like a betrayal. This isn't just a funding cut it's the ultimate snub to those who never came home."

The promise was given to the Express in writing after we campaigned to ensure the greatest generation had one last chance to salute lost comrades on the battlegrounds where they fell.

Instead this may now be the first year in which they are faced with the prospect of zero Government funding.

Navy veteran Peter Smoothy had choked back tears last June as he stood on the same D-Day beach where he saw heroes killed.