This morning, veterans from the D-Day landings of 1944 will be in France for two days of commemorations of what was a bloody if successful beginning of the end of World War II. They will be retracing steps that they first took 70 years ago when the welcome was a great deal less reliable than anything they will receive today and tomorrow. The numbers of the veterans attending will be smaller than ever before and it is judged that this is to be the last significant anniversary to be marked in this way. There will be leaders of many European countries present and one imagines that no expense will be spared to ensure that they can attend in their finest clothes and in the greatest of comfort as they would all expect, paid for by the taxpayers of their respective nations. By contrast the resources needed to get our veterans onto the beaches in a manner that befits their importance have not all been found from the public purse, despite the national significance of this event. This is at odds with the way in which they were landed in 1944 when Churchill invested in substantial resources to ensure the landing craft arrived on the various beaches on time, and he and most of the national leaders stayed away. Instead of using public money which has been collected through general taxation, the Government has turned to a source which many modern politicians like to treat as their own, even though it is money that the public have provided voluntarily for the use of good causes. This was revealed a few weeks ago in the House of Commons when Crawley MP, Henry Smith asked his colleague, Anna Soubry, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans if she could ensure that the money that was needed was available for these veterans.

Henry Smith: As my hon. Friend will know, many of my constituents and others around the country—elderly veterans who hope to go to northern France for the D-day commemorations—will have difficulty paying for things such as travel insurance and accommodation. Can she update the House on how the lottery can help with some of that financing?

Anna Soubry: My hon. Friend raises a good point. The Big Lottery Fund effectively provides the funding and has worked with the Royal British Legion to make sure that the money available will include, most notably, the high cost of insurance. If there is any difficulty, I am sure that my hon. Friend will come to see me about that, because it is imperative that there are no bars to our great veterans being able to attend these D-day commemorations.

None of the people who participate in the Lottery each week could possibly disagree with the use of the money set aside for good causes to be used to ensure todays events can be carried out with the inclusion of all veterans who are fit enough to travel. However it is vital that Politicians such as Henry and Anna do not make the mistake of thinking of this money as being in the gift of the Government. Indeed once the commemorations are over perhaps Mr Smith and Ms Soubry could apply their attention to the Chancellor and persuade him to repay the £425M that the previous Government borrowed from the good causes funds to pay for some of the Olympic Stadia. It was agreed across all of the parties that this money would be repaid at the end of the Olympics, and yet two years later not a penny piece has been repaid. Thank goodness there was enough available to get a few old soldiers into France for what will be a final visit for many of them. Sadly some of the good causes that do not attract the attention of our MPs are currently struggling to deliver food and clothing to some of the contemporaries of these soldiers, but then of course the heads of state don’t usually get involved in such matters!