Member's statement: VE Day
Member's statement by Mr Stewart Dickson on .
- MLA
- Mr Stewart Dickson
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 6 May 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- VE Day
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4929224
Read the official Assembly record
Text
This week, as we mark the anniversary of Victory in Europe, we do more than just remember a military triumph. We commemorate the birth of a new Europe — a Europe built not on vengeance but on reconciliation; not on division but on a shared sovereignty and human rights. The end of the war in Europe in 1945 was not just about the defeat of fascism; it was about the courage to imagine a different future. Treaties and institutions that followed, from the United Nations to the European Convention on Human Rights, were drawn up even as our cities still smouldered. They represented a profound belief that peace must be built on justice and that no nation can secure its future alone. As we reflect on that history, we must reflect on this uncomfortable truth: our collective memory has failed to honour properly all those who made victory possible. Recent research has revealed that only 24% of us in the United Kingdom are aware that soldiers from Jamaica and Kenya fought in that war; only 34% of us know about the sacrifices that were made by Muslim troops; and a mere 43% of us recall the contribution of Sikhs. However, when we are told the history and learn that 2·5 million soldiers of the Indian army, about 1 million African personnel and tens of thousands from the Caribbean fought, we all agree that they deserve equal commemoration. Let us remember individuals like Private Clarence Trimm, a black Canadian soldier who was born to British Guyanese parents and first tried to enlist at 15 by growing a moustache to look older. He was killed in Germany two weeks before VE Day, having fought to liberate the Netherlands. Consider also Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim woman of Indian descent who served as a British spy in occupied France. Just before she was executed at Dachau concentration camp, her last word was "Liberté". Those stories matter. They remind us that the fight against fascism is truly global and that our remembrances must be equally inclusive. Fascism has thrived on division. Our answer then and now must be peacebuilding and honest remembrance in a way that makes room for every story, every sacrifice and every community that stood together against tyranny. That is how we will truly honour VE Day, not just as history but as a living commitment to the values for which so many fought and died.
405 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.07 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.78).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.20 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.59 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.12 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.16 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.07 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.78 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.22 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.97 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.02 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 01:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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