Member's statement: Battle of the Somme: 109th Anniversary

Member's statement by Mr Brian Kingston on 1 July 2025.

MLA: Mr Brian Kingston
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 1 July 2025
Type: Member's statement
Business: Members' Statements
Heading: Battle of the Somme: 109th Anniversary
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5061081

Text

On this 1 July morning, I rise to commemorate the 109th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The battle resonates throughout history for us due to the sheer scale of casualties among Ulstermen on the first day of what became one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The battle was intended to be a decisive blow against the German forces. In preparation, the British artillery fired constantly for six days to destroy the German front-line trenches, with over 1·5 million shells fired. However, that bombardment did not have the desired effect. At 0730 hours on 1 July, whistles blew, and thousands climbed bravely out of the trenches to cross no man's land under enemy fire. By the end of that first day, the British forces had 57,470 casualties, with 19,240 dead. The Germans suffered 10,000 to 12,000 casualties, equating to roughly 5:1 losses for the attacking forces. The 36th (Ulster) Division was the only division of X Corps to achieve its objectives on the opening day of the battle. That came at a heavy price, with the division suffering over 5,000 officers and men killed, wounded or missing. When news of those losses reached home, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Sir Crawford McCullagh, requested that all business be suspended for a civic act of remembrance lasting five minutes. He was the first person to be recorded as publicly calling for a period of silence for the remembrance of fallen soldiers. That event is portrayed in the stained glass window in Belfast City Hall that honours his many years as lord mayor. Of nine Victoria Crosses (VCs) awarded for action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, four were awarded to 36th Division soldiers. One VC was subsequently awarded to a soldier in the 16th (Irish) Division, which served nobly later in the battle alongside the 36th (Ulster) Division. The battle ended on 18 November 1916. By then, there were over one million casualties: 420,000 British and over 500,000 German. By the end of the battle, the British had advanced 7 miles. As we remember those who gave so much in that battle, let us remember all those who have given so much in all conflicts for the freedoms that we and others enjoy today.
"At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them."

398 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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: 0.10 (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 (1.00).
Subject area: Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials.
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

Probability that each statement is true of this text (0 = no, 1 = yes). A criterion counts as met at 0.60 or above.
Question	Probability	Met?
Identity framing	0.08	No
Sectarian or communal antagonism	0.02	No
Cultural grievance politics	0.03	No
Dog-whistle messaging	0.02	No
Controversy escalation	0.06	No
Legitimate policy scrutiny	0.02	No
Overall judgement	0.10	At or below not-flagging threshold

Context and attribution (stance)
Option	Probability
No identity-based framing (chosen)	1.00
Reports or questions it	0.00
Criticises or condemns it	0.00
Adopts it	0.00

Subject area (top five)
Subject	Probability
Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials	0.33
Parades, bonfires and commemorations	0.23
Another identity-related subject	0.22
Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations	0.10
No identity-related subject	0.08

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:57 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification