Gavin Mortimer

1 week ago | spectator.co.uk | Gavin Mortimer

Commemorations begin today to mark the eightieth anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. A military procession will leave Parliament Square and head to Buckingham Palace – the start of four days of events that culminate on Thursday, actual VE Day, with a service of thanksgiving from Westminster Abbey. Britain’s military top brass will be out in force, laying wreaths at memorials and talking in grave tones about the courage and sacrifice of the Second World War generation.

1 week ago | spectator.co.uk | Gavin Mortimer

The Royal Mail has issued a set of commemorative stamps to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day on 8 May. The ‘Valour and Victory Presentation Pack’ features ten men and women whose courage and determination, in the words of Royal Mail, ‘helped shape the outcome of the second world war’. Another criteria in selecting the ten was ‘diversity’. One or two curmudgeons on social media have muttered about ‘wokeness’, but that is unjust.

2 weeks ago | spectator.com.au | Gavin Mortimer

This month Pakistan has expelled more than 80,000 Afghans in what the government has labelled its Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan. In total, since September 2023 the United Nations estimates that approximately 910,000 Afghans have reluctantly returned to their country. Many of these are holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC), which were given to them when they arrived.

2 weeks ago | spectator.co.uk | Gavin Mortimer

This month Pakistan has expelled more than 80,000 Afghans in what the government has labelled its Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan. In total, since September 2023 the United Nations estimates that approximately 910,000 Afghans have reluctantly returned to their country. Many of these are holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC), which were given to them when they arrived. The Pakistan government has given Afghans until today to leave. After this, they will be forcibly deported.

2 weeks ago | spectator.com.au | Gavin Mortimer

These have been terrible days in France. On Thursday, a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death and several of her classmates wounded at a private school in Nantes. It was an attack of singular ferocity. The victim, who was stabbed 57 times, was killed by a fellow pupil, a boy her own age.