Mayor's View: Lest we forget - honouring our heroes

Remembrance, as well as the local response to the awful train attack two weeks ago, only strengthens that feeling

Over the past week, we’ve all been honouring our heroes, past and present.

Remembrance is always an important moment to pause our busy lives and reflect. We honour those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, and many will have their own personal reasons to remember – a family member taken too soon, or a much-missed friend.

For me, it’s as the son of a soldier and the grandson of two men who fought bravely in the Second World War. I think about them often, but Remembrance is that moment where we stop and collectively share our respects.

I started last week by joining Peterborough councillors to hang poppies on lampposts across the city, creating a brilliant display. It’s a creative and wonderful way for the city to mark its fallen and it’s a real pleasure to help do this every year.

On Sunday, I attended the wreath laying ceremony at Peterborough Town Hall, which was hosted by the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire Brigadier Tim Seal, the Mayor of Peterborough and the Royal British Legion (RBL). This is something I have done every year since becoming an MP and will continue to do as Mayor. I am always very proud during this service to see our city come together in solidarity to pay their respects. It is truly moving.

This was followed by a two-minute silence at Peterborough War Memorial on Tuesday (11 November) – a short but meaningful moment that serves as a reminder that freedom shouldn’t be taken for granted.

We will remember them.

This year, honouring heroes felt particularly poignant in the wake of the attack on the train which was stopped at Huntingdon. Where some of the bravest stepped up to protect or help others, including those from Peterborough.

Now as we move forward, I want to make sure that Peterborough is remembered for those reasons. In fact, I want it to be remembered as the home of heroes like the calm, quick-thinking Peterborough LNER train driver and military veteran Andrew Johnson, who despite the events of last week, was back out selling poppies in the city just days later.

And remembered for the offers of support that came from Peterborough in the wake of those attacks – taxi drivers from our city, for example, offering to take people back to their homes or to their destination. That’s our city at its finest.

This weekend I also joined Peterborough’s MPs, the city council leader and Mayor, our Police and Crime Commissioner, Dean of the Cathedral and the Chair of the Joint Mosques Council, in a show of solidarity following those attacks. Our city is united and we respect those people who have made, and continue to make, Peterborough the proud city it is today.