Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has laid blame on the Conservatives for “politicising” Remembrance Sunday after taking aim at the Labour Government’s “tone deaf” announcement.
Speaking to GB News, Ms Nandy made clear that Brexit has “not got anything to do with Remembrance Sunday” and she is “horrified” at the Tory remarks.
Labour sparked outrage amongst the Tories and Reform after announcing that the UK will rejoin Europe’s Erasmus+ scheme, allowing young Britons to study, train or get work experience in the European Union.
Ms Nandy said Britain should honour its veterans by creating new opportunities for future generations “through closeness and collaboration with our allies”.
Conservative Party Chairman Kevin Hollinrake called the Culture Secretary to withdraw her remarks and apologise.
He said: “Remembrance Sunday is a day for the nation to stand together in silence and honour those who gave everything for our country.
“It is not a day for a Labour minister to try to make an EU membership pitch.
“Our veterans did not fight for a student exchange scheme. Using their sacrifice to clear a £570million cheque to Brussels is tone deaf and frankly shameful.”
Criticising the Tories’s response to the announcement, Ms Nandy told GB News: “I don’t think Brexit’s got anything to do with Remembrance Sunday.
“And frankly, I’m quite horrified that the Conservative Party has tried to politick around Remembrance Sunday. There’s usually an agreement that we don’t do that.”
The Culture Secretary argued: “We are going back into Erasmus. We previously announced that, and what we have announced this weekend is that we’re widening participation in that scheme to make sure that young people from towns like Wigan, where I’m from, get the chance to go and do cultural exchanges with counterparts across Europe.
“To honour the legacy of a generation of veterans in World War II who went out and fought not just for our freedom, but for the freedom of people across Europe.”
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She added: “They retained lifelong friendships with people in many of those European countries, like France, because of the amazing role that they played in liberating people from tyranny across the European continent.
“And we want to make sure, as a Government, that we don’t just pay lip service and tributes to that generation, but we actually honour their legacy by making sure that a whole generation of young people growing up today can understand that.”
Responding to Ms Nandy’s remarks, host Camilla Tominey then pressed her on Labour’s defence spending targets.
She asked the Culture Secretary: “Well, the other way to honour their legacy, of course, is to make sure that you do reach that target of three per cent of GDP on defence spending by 2030.
“It looks as if the defence spending review has been knocked into the long grass, we don’t know when it’s taking place next year, and you’re only at 2.7 per cent.
“John Healy resigned because you couldn’t get to three, and as far as I can tell from his Budget, he’s still not getting to three by 2030?”
Ms Nandy told GB News: “John [Healey] took the honourable decision to resign because we couldn’t find a way to fund the Defence Investment Plan, which we have now done, we are absolutely committed to that target of reaching 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence spending.
“And I do want to say to you, because I’m not complacent about this at all, but I do want your viewers to know that we’re spending £14billion more on defence than we were when we took office, when the last government left office, and that is a symbol of our commitment.
“We will, of course, make further commitments through the spending review next year.
“But when it comes to the defence and security of our nation, we absolutely see it in the same way as you do, which is it’s about honouring the sacrifice that was made not just by veterans of two world wars, but by many veterans since, and that they still make today.”
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