On May 9th this year, Russia held its 80th “Victory day” parade.
Like other commemorations in other countries to mark the end of the Second World War, this was also to promote peace and goodwill.
Usually at this time of respectful celebration, leaders of world nations conduct themselves in a peaceful manner.
Not so, Sir Keir Starmer, who took part in a NATO organised summit in Norway on this very day.
He said support for Ukraine was “the absolute focus” of Britain and other countries
The next day, the 10th May, he and a small group of European leaders were guests of Zelensky in Ukraine.
To emphasise the insensitivity of this timing, there were still German Nazi units who had not surrendered on this date in 1945
In Sark, the British Channel Islands, the garrison there only surrendered on 10th May.
In Alderney, the surrender was on May 16th 1945.
Some other examples are Czechoslovakia , May 13th, Hel Peninsular, Poland, May 14th,Texel,Holland, May 20th, Rhodes, May 18th, Crete May 12th, and some in June.
One thing is certain; it is not done diplomatically to spout warmongering on the international stage in the sensitive week of 6th– 12th May.
Yet Starmer is oblivious to all this and has no regard for the importance of history.
It is an international insult to Russia, a very avoidable one, for Starmer to take part in a pro- Ukraine, anti -Russia military summit, on Russia’s annual VE day celebrations.
Starmer has added to this by making demands of Russia which the Russian government has initially responded to as being “contradictory and confrontational.”
Starmer has in fact given no support to the Russian announced ceasefire with no conditions from 8th-10th May, one which Ukraine has not recognised or abided by.
Starmer has threatened Russia with more sanctions ( having imposed more recently anyway) if they don’t agree to a 30-day ceasefire from Monday.
This is said to be backed by EU and NATO countries and even Donald Trump, but this may be a case of Starmer’s bark being louder than his bite.
So far, all sanctions against Russia have done has been an inconvenience to them, but which has made them stronger and the sanctioning countries weaker.
All this grandstanding by people like Starmer has no effect on Russia. They know the British public are fed up with him already, that they are embarrassed by him, and that he has made the UK look more pathetic and foolish on the world stage.
Starmer getting desperate
Starmer alongside his allies who back globalist corporate entities who want to asset strip Ukraine, is getting desperate, as his side is losing this conflict.
Russia cannot be expected to agree to a thirty-day ceasefire when Starmer and his allies continue to arm Ukraine.
Starmer still calls his idea the “Coalition of the Willing,” with a theme of “Supporting Ukraine-Securing our future.”
How can supporting Ukraine be securing the UK’s future, or indeed the future of any other country in the “willing?”
Supporting Ukraine has caused the UK immense harm, a subject which the establishment political parties and media, do not want publicly debated.
This so-called coalition is very flimsy and is more one of the unwilling being bullied by their globalist masters.
This power is ebbing away as the public in more and more countries wake up to their countries being undermined by politicians who have betrayed them.
Neither the UK nor these countries have done anything to stop the bloodshed in many parts of the world, but particularly in Israel/Gaza/Palestine/Lebanon/Syria.
Starmer and co, I shall call them, are hypocrites. The same hypocrites who abandoned Afghanistan to the Taliban.
They never said to Afghanistan, we will support you “as long as it takes,” like they did with Ukraine.
They have made no such commitment in the Middle East either. Starmer and Co have given us nothing but double standards.
He is now called two tier Starmer, with much justification because it applies to other political areas too.
It is important to put a stop to Starmer’s warmongering by signing the petition.
Starmer is in no position to make demands. He has no mandate to involve the UK in the conflict anyway.
This is why a petition has been started for the UK to be a neutral peacemaker. It needs to be signed and shared to put a halt to Starmer’s warmongering:
Anthony Webber
Independent Political Commentator
Starmer’s track record on making use of VE day events for political purposes is disgraceful:
Sir Keir Starmer has shown his contempt for the sacrifices made by the British people to win the Second World War by his organising of Ukrainian troops to be part of the British Armed Service personnel procession on VE Day.
This is seen as an affront by many service personnel and Armed Services veterans who are staggered that a country which had many people on Nazi Germany’s side in World War two, has been invited to march with them. It is felt that their day has been taken over to promote a political cause.
VE ( Victory in Europe) Day is generally to honour and respect the sacrifices of those who put their lives on the line to defend Britain and the Empire.
It is also to celebrate the fortitude of those civilians and service personnel who strived for nearly six years to defend their freedoms and liberties.
The official theme of the VE day celebrations is “Lamplight of Peace,” and has evolved into inviting some of our former foes to attend.
However, this is supposed to be within the context of peace and reconciliation, not promoting war for one side in a current conflict.
In an underhand way, the government twisted the event to be all about Ukraine.
The government said that the Ukrainian troops “joining together with the British troops for the procession, will symbolise the global support for Ukraine’s continued fight for freedom against Russia’s unprovoked illegal invasion.” This is a highly politicised and contentious statement and what has that got to do with “Lamplight for Peace?”
They have shamelessly highjacked this major historical event to promote their Ukraine proxy war agenda.
It really is not acceptable to do this.
Normally representatives of Russia are invited to this event because they were a key ally whose support was vital to victory being achieved over Nazi Germany.
Twenty million Soviet military and military died in this conflict, including those from Ukraine.
About 7 million Ukrainians served in the Red Army and there were about 1 million guerilla fighters out of a then population of about 31 million.
But many Ukrainians supported Nazi Germany, as is stated later.
This year, the government have snubbed Russia and attempted to whitewash the importance of the alliance of Britain, the then Soviet Union, and the USA in defeating Nazi Germany.
Russia has called the move by Starmer as blasphemous and disrespectful.
It really is insane to do this.
It is indicative of the poor standard of diplomacy exhibited by British politicians, which puts the UK in a poor light on the world stage.
Many in Ukraine government circles openly celebrate the activities of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis units in the Second World War.
They have a lot of political influence and have Azov military units. These things are glossed over or ignored by the Labour government but they exercise double standards as they tolerate no form of Neo Nazism in the UK.
Ukraine became part of the Axis camp
In the Second World War, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, of which Ukraine was a part, many Ukrainians took the side of the Nazis against the communist Russia.
About a million Russians took the German Nazi side too, and the exact situation is complicate. However, the facts are that Ukrainian armed units made a major contribution to the German war effort:
Approximately 250,000 native Ukrainians were enlisted by the Germans in various formations during World War II. This included units like the Nationalist Military Detachments (VVN), the Brotherhoods of Ukrainian Nationalists (DUN), the SS Division Galicia, the Ukrainian Liberation Army (UVV), and the Ukrainian National Army (UNA). Additionally, the SS employed 238,000 Ukrainian police in Reichskommissariat Ukraine alone by the end of 1942.
Axis Ukraine forces atrocities
Inviting Ukrainian troops to be part of the winning side’s procession is not only a denial of history, but also obscene for its poor taste.
Ukrainian units were responsible for the mass murder of thousands of Jews in Lvov in June 1941 by the bizarrely named Nightingale Battalion.
One armed organisation, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), aligned itself with Nazi Germany in July 1944.
Amongst other activities, they fought against the Polish resistance and murdered between 50,000 and 100,000 Poles.
The Ukrainian14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galacian) was founded in 1943 to fight the Soviet Army and Partisans.
It lost thousands of men and was renamed and replenished in August 1944.
There were many war crimes committed by this unit.
They also helped suppress the Warsaw uprising in the autumn of 1944 and were loyal to Nazi Germany to the end.
They were known to have helped capture British and American pilots from downed allied planes and hand them over the Gestapo.
They fought the British and Americans and 10,000 of them surrendered to British troops at the close of the war.
A few thousand of these Waffen SS troops were allowed to live in the UK . something which has always been a matter of some controversy.
Why was Ukraine given special status in the procession?
The country with a very dubious claim to be part of our VE celebrations is Ukraine.
It was not a country in the Second World War, but part of the Soviet Union.
If the government wanted to honour those former parts of the Soviet Union, then they should have all had invitations to attend, including Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
You cannot ignore historical facts and select only Ukraine, just because it suits political purposes.
As for those countries which were part of the German Axis alliance or gave substantial help to them, their attendance should be in a more low-key manner.
It makes a mockery of this special event for Ukraine troops to have been given special status in the procession.
The focus on the procession should have been on those troops representing the UK and its allies during the Second World War, NOT those representing its foes!
Britain was hugely supported by countries of the then Empire and it is an insult to give Ukraine a better status over them.
There is no reason not to invite representatives of former foes to attend in a different capacity for the promotion of peace and goodwill though.
Sir Keir Starmer politicising actions risked the image of the event
Keir Starmer’s decision to invite Ukraine to participate in the UK’s VE Day procession has risked the reputation of the event itself.
VE Day parades are traditionally non-partisan and focused on honouring those who fought in World War II.
The participation of Ukraine, given its current conflict with Russia, may be seen as taking sides and could alienate other participants or nations seeking to maintain neutrality in the ongoing war.
This could diminish the parade’s role as a unifying commemoration.
VE Day marks the end of World War II in Europe and is intended as a day of unity and remembrance for the defeat of fascism.
Including Ukraine, a nation currently engaged in active warfare with Russia, risks politicizing the event and shifting the focus from historical remembrance to present-day conflict.
This could undermine the intended message of peace and reconciliation.
Mainstream media assisted the government’s psychological manipulation campaign
The Express did itself a massive disfavour by having a large article focussing on Ukrainian contribution to the Red Army but erasing mention of the Ukrainians who fought for the German Axis Army. This is all part of the government “us and them” propaganda. Psychologists argue that “Identity” is one of the most powerful unconscious voices. If you can get someone to believe “we are in this together,” then it brings about unity and support for the government’s Ukraine cause. The Ukraine march in the procession was key to this process. Ten Ukrainian military including three women, were carefully selected for this to evoke sympathy. They wore low key combat gear as opposed to formal military uniforms. As such they did not goose step, which the Ukrainians do for certain types of procession. Yet comments on the lines of “they do not goose step, which shows their differences with the Russians,” were made. They were also given a key position in the procession and allowed to display their flag much more obviously than other countries. The media when interviewing them, said things like, “you were on our side in the Second World War.” A disgraceful distortion of the facts.
It is said that two UK PR agencies advise the Ukraine government, and the government receives its own PR advice to promote its agenda.
Starmer does not care about the reputation of the VE day events or its essentially peaceful message
Keir Starmer is clearly prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to promoting his Ukraine cause, whatever the cost in truth or financial terms.
He has given the clear impression that he is not interested in the historical and patriotic importance of the event and thus has no concerns about protecting its reputation for the future.
Sir Keir Starmer has demonstrated that his government does not understand how important VE day to the British public.
His isolation from the feelings of the public in general and his general insensitivity has been shown by the recent election results.
His response on those is “I get it,” but it is clear he does not!
Hopefully, Nigel Farage and his newly elected Reform UK team will insist that VE Day is ours and not to be made a mockery of by Starmer.
We must respect our history and not abuse it politically.
What is also important is to learn from our history and to promote the benefits of peace and good will, rather than aggression and antagonism.
These are all reasons why the new Petition on Ukraine/Russia is so important to sign and share:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/714303
Anthony Webber
Independent Political Commentator
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