Oral Answers to Questions

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I understand that there is a legal challenge to the guidance, but notwithstanding that, we will ensure that it is finalised as soon as possible. I will arrange for the relevant Minister to meet my hon. Friend to give him a full update.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

Q7. On Armistice Day, I joined the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in paying tribute to all those who laid down their lives in the service of this country. We all wear our poppies with pride, but what is often forgotten is those millions of men and women who came from across the Commonwealth to serve this country, so I wear the marigold to commemorate the 3.2 million Indians who were the largest volunteer army in both the great war and the second world war and who risked their lives in the service of this country. On Sunday, the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women will parade at the Cenotaph. I will have the honour of laying a wreath together with a renowned Holocaust survivor, Susan Pollack, remembering those who were murdered by the Nazis. Will the Prime Minister join me in commemorating and praising all those who give their service to this country?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say what he has just said, and we honour the service of everybody who fought alongside British service personnel fighting Nazism in the second world war. It was uplifting to see the representation of all those communities at the Cenotaph on Sunday. I was there with the right hon. Lady the Leader of the Opposition, and it is always the most moving of moments. But we must never forget the contribution, as he rightly says, of people across the Commonwealth supporting and standing alongside Britain and the people in those countries who made the ultimate sacrifice, too.