---

First World War Veteran (State Funeral)

I want to thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith) for his initiative in suggesting that we commemorate the lives of all the people who participated in the great war by having a state funeral for the last known United Kingdom veteran of that great conflict. The right hon. Gentleman referred to some of his family and I bear in mind my grandfather, Private Edward Joseph Beanes of the Royal Fusiliers, whose medals I proudly hold today, and his countless colleagues who participated in that conflict. It is important for us to commemorate and learn lessons. As the right hon. Gentleman suggested, schoolchildren in particular can draw a great deal from that and give us older ones an opportunity to reflect on the real meaning of conflict. The right hon. Gentleman mentioned how rarely we have state funerals and I draw your attention, Mr. Caton, to this very room. You can see opposite you the picture of the laying to rest of the unknown warrior by George V. That picture shows a state funeral. That was the beginning of the process and this proposal, if adopted, will be the end. I hope that there will be a comparable, contemporary picture marking the occasion in the House in future. I suspect that this state funeral will take place this year or next year, so I hope that many hon. Members will join me on 1 July at the Somme in Thiepval. It will be particularly poignant and important to those people who want to commemorate the great war. I shall also reflect on the hon. Members who gave their lives in world war one. Every time we go into the Chamber, we notice the crest commemorating hon. Members who gave their lives during world war one, particularly Willie Redmond. Elsewhere in the Palace, Thomas Kettle is commemorated, among many others. It seems to me that the first world war is a unique social and political watershed. It was the end of cavalry and the end of people going to war in ceremonial uniforms; the Highland regiments wore their kilts for the last time in conflict. It was the beginning of the tank. It was the first aviation war: in that short space of four years planes went from little more than kites doing a bit of scouting to the first bombers. Regrettably, it was the first time that weapons of mass destruction were used, such as chemical weapons and so on. Moreover, Governments had to reflect on the conflict. Inadequate as the response was at Versailles and in the subsequent treaties, there was nevertheless a conscious theme that politicians had to reflect to try to avoid conflict. The creation of the League of Nations afterwards was not a failure; it was a start. The war trials that took place in Leipzig were not a failure; they were also a start, and we are still struggling today with the embryonic system of international norms for war crimes. Most important of all, the war brought about the women's franchise: a universal franchise for the United Kingdom. After women had participated so fully on the home front, and on the western front in the various nursing services, there had to be a recognition of their efforts. There had to be universal adult suffrage. It was given grudgingly after the first world war—it was not given to women on the same basis as men immediately—but it was no longer resistible. For those and many other reasons, I hope that the Minister and the Government will respond in the way suggested by the right hon. Gentleman. There would be overwhelming acclamation of such a decision, and we wish it God speed.