Government asked to commit a minister to attending this year’s AJEX Parade
Conservative MP: After 100 years of remembering Jews who fought and died for Britain, isn't it time a minister attended?
The British government has demurred when asked if a minister may finally attend the annual parade of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX), being held at the Cenotaph later this month.
Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt MP offered no assurances that a minister would attend on Sunday 20 November after Conservative MP Bob Blackman urged the Government to break its poor record and send someone.
“This year’s event is special,” said Blackman. “It is the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the parades. I have attended them every year since I was elected, but unfortunately a Minister has never been present.”
He urged Mordaunt to “prevail upon her Cabinet colleagues to ensure that a Government representative is at the centenary parade,” but the minister could not promise that the Government would respond.
“It is right to mark such events with all due respect and courtesy to the people involved in those efforts,” she said, adding: “I cannot give him the assurances he seeks today… I shall follow up and see what we can do.”
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