The Real Betrayal

We learn from Dr North that he has learned from "diverse sources" that "the Luftwaffe is to join the RAF in a fly-past over London next year to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain".

It's a strange thing, bizarre, actually. There could be a number of things going on. The organisers may have invited the German airforce as part of a symbol of, as North puts it, "reapproachment". But this is the anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Surely, the Germans aren't going to celebrate the deaths of their countrymen at the hands of British airmen, nor are they going to celebrate Britain's crucial victory.

Either way, "reapproachment" is a political message. Using an occassion that should be a tribute to the feats of the RAF pilots and ground crew, to the survival of Britain as a nation, to promote a modern political mood of 'unity' is just as cynical, just as sinister, and just as much of an insult as the desecration of the poppy posters by the anti-war mob.

This is a betrayal of those that fought and died in those crucial months in 1940. But as North notes, it's symbolic of another, grander, more evil betrayal: the betrayal of all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country by the politicians who took over in the aftermath.

British soldiers in the Second World War found the strength to fight in sometimes unbearable situations, to risk their lives for the good of their home. Our politicians can't even find the strength of character to continue running the country by themselves.