Lords marks 80th anniversary of victory in Europe and Japan

Debate

Lord Coaker (Labour), Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence, put forward the debate.

This was a general debate. During debates, members put their experience to good use to discuss current issues and draw the government's attention to concerns.      

Members speaking  

Contributing members included: 

• Earl Attlee (Conservative), former officer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Territorial Army
• Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour), vice-chair of the trustee board at the People's History Museum
• Lord Boateng (Labour), chair of the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust
• Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench), former Chief of Defence Staff, Ministry of Defence
• Lord Dubs (Labour), Kindertransport evacuee prior to the Second World War
• Baroness Kingsmill (Labour), member of the Nato Parliamentary Assembly Committee
• Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Conservative), young leader of the Franco-British Council
• Lord Ricketts (Crossbench), honorary president of the Normandy Memorial Trust and former HM Ambassador to France
• Lord Shinkwin (Conservative), former head of public affairs for the Royal British Legion
• Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrats), professor of European politics and former lecturer in international relations, University of Cambridge
• Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrats), former deputy director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House.

Baroness Twycross (Labour), Minister for Heritage at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, responded on behalf of the government.

Catch up

• Watch on Parliament TV.
• Read the Lords Hansard transcript. 

Explore background information   

• Find out more about the issues the debate covers in the House of Lords Library briefing . 
• Learn more about how the House of Lords checks and challenges government.

Image: Jay Alexander / Unsplash