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| VE Day 1945. Prime Minister Winston Churchill with the Royal Family on the Buckingham Palace balcony to celebrate the end of World War 2 in Europe |
Readers who recall the Royal Family and Winston Churchill acknowledging the crowds on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on VE Day in 1945 will have survived WW2 bombings only to be targeted by a more insidious enemy today, the Covid-19 virus.
Official celebrations designed to inject the spirit of joy felt in 1945 have been cancelled. Instead there will be some TV programmes to mark the 75th anniversary of the allied victory. The Queen will address her subjects at 9 pm as did her father King George VI on VE Day.
Life in Britain and around the world had become very different until lockdown imposed dramatic changes in routine in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The concept of the nuclear family has gone. Marriage has largely been replaced by partnerships, civil or informal, previously regarded as living in sin.
Feminism dominates Anglicanism, Christianity is lampooned, churches are closing while other faiths are protected. Political correctness has become an unwelcome burden, often depriving people of the humour that sustained us in times of difficulty
Notions of gender contradict what used to be regarded as patently obvious while the snowflake generation threaten free speech by no-platforming speakers whose views they disagree with.
On the 75th anniversary of VE Day we are at war again but with an unseen enemy. Older folk who experienced bombings in WW2 and the discipline of National Service find themselves at greater risk from the virus but appear better able to cope, staying indoors as told while some, mainly younger people, ignore the advice, risking the lives of others in the process
In May 1940 when Churchill first addressed the
House of Commons as Prime Minister he concluded, "You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: victory; victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival." The same spirit is needed today.
I recall sitting around the radio with my mother during WW2 listening to
Churchill's speeches spurring the allies to victory and strengthening resolve at home. Uplifting broadcasts provided a welcome tonic for housewives bringing up their families in difficult times when their husbands faced more immediate perils abroad.
News bulletins are once again dominated by war reports. War against the Covid-19 virus but the BBC has changed its position from blanket support of the war effort to a more critical, gloomy picture. For example, viewers are constantly told that the UK has the highest number of Corona-19 virus deaths in Europe before adding, as if barely relevant, that demographic factors paint a different picture.
Some voices are spreading discontent, encouraging popular demands to relax the restrictions that have lessened the spread of infections. Hopefully governments will remain resolute in the face of opposition and not give in to unscientific populist demands.
Matters become more complicated while devolved administrations, anxious to be seen flexing their independent muscles, arrive at their own conclusions even though based on the same central, scientific evidence. When aired by the BBC such views can make them appear to be aligned with the Opposition.
The blog
A Grain of Sand poses the question 'Is Aunty Biased', suggesting the BBC, founded on Christian principles, has "swung to an institutional mindset of sceptical liberalism".
I was intrigued the other day to see a reference to the BBC's Director of Content. Googling revealed not just a content director but an army of 39
ideas people ending with the Lead on Comedy Nations and Regions.
Today there is little original comedy to provide laughs compared with
WW2 radio content such as ITMA, Workers Playtime, Band Waggon and Hi, Gang!
Instead the BBC supplements its regular news and current affairs slots with frequent repeats and a constant supply of soccer matches/comments/analyses while evening dramas provide a diet mainly of murder and misery.
Nevertheless, 75 years after VE Day, we will not be glued to the wireless worrying about air raid warning sirens. Instead my wife and I will be watching Auntie focus on doom and misery with a gap celebrating Churchill's promise of victory if we were to stand firm.
We did. Pulling together we are here to celebrate victory. 'Victory at all costs'.
