It seems sometimes world events collide, and days and times become more auspicious than expected. In recent years we’ve had the final lifting of Covid restrictions collide with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and this week the celebrations marking eighty years since VE Day took place as the new leader of the Catholic Church was revealed as Chicago-born Robert Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV.
In Brentwood, the beautiful Catholic Cathedral is testament to the importance of the town in the Catholic Diocese of Brentwood and I know many of my constituents, who are regular attendees, will be delighted the selection of the new leader of their church was so swift.
I was at the Ongar Town Festival last week, where the VE Day celebrations were front and centre, amid Union Jack flags and bunting. I managed to bag a ride in a WW2 jeep, the likes of which would have been a regular sight on the roads between Ongar and the local airfields eighty years ago.
However, it is a sobering through that as we celebrate the end of that war in Europe eighty years ago, we are at that stage where war has returned to Europe and the Ukrainian people continue to live with all the suffering ward causes.
It is more important than ever to offer full support to our and our allies’ armed forces and to our veterans, and I am proud to stand up for our armed forces, national security and veterans.
