From my MP:
Dear Chug,
Thank you for contacting me about the Bomber Command Memorial.
I welcomed Her Majesty the Queen's unveiling of this Memorial. It is a fitting tribute dedicated, as you note in your email, to the tens of thousands of brave airmen who died in the Second World War.
I understand from Treasury officials that the Government spent over £1.5 million on the event, including a Ministry of Defence contribution of resources at a cost of £375,000 to commemorate the 55,573 aircrew of RAF Bomber Command who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the Second World War.
After months of planning and support to the Bomber Command Association, six RAF aircraft and some 200 RAF personnel were involved on the day. This is in addition to the £1 million contribution to cover VAT and the £200,000 cash support promised by the Government towards the additional costs of the unveiling ceremony.
I believe it is right and proper that we recognise the unique contribution and sacrifice that the men of Bomber Command made to protect Great Britain during the Second World War and ensure democratic freedom.
As a final point, I would like to add my congratulations to those of the Secretary of State for Defence, who praised the volunteers that made this memorial a reality.
I am grateful for your taking the time to contact me and please never hesitate to get back in touch if I can be of any further assistance on this issue or any other.
My reply:
Thank you for your prompt reply to my request that ALL the VAT charged for the Bomber Command Memorial and ALL the security costs involved in the Dedication ceremony, attended by HM The Queen, should be met by HMG. It is all very well for HM Treasury to quote large sums of public money they contend have already been expended to date, their inference seems to be that the Veterans should pay the very considerable difference.
Would the present government have had the same attitude had it been in power 1939-45? Would they have told these same men, then extremely young, that it had already expended a great amount on the munitions being dropped nightly on the Reich, and it was now up to the crews to pay up as well? I do not think that the contrast is so extreme, for both expenditures are the moral responsibility of HMG on behalf of this Nation, then fighting for survival, and now presumably grateful for having survived thanks to those who did not survive. HM Treasury may not have a sense of moral obligation, HMG I think should, for it governs in our name. It should refund ALL the VAT and pay for ALL the Security Costs of the Unveiling and Dedication of the Bomber Command Memorial now!
Yours sincerely,
Chug
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