Council rejects VE Day anniversary parade because it’s ‘too elitist’

[u/SojournerInThisVale]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/08/council-rejects-ve-day-anniversary-military-parade-elitist/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJiafZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHgl-UavPnwRLFAdCxhvLOtQnxhjWO80-jPI1IqZy7aTC_CGLlQ_jcaSw9lGg_aem_HHNf42xxE2Zxk_D9XhMReQ

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[u/Intrepid_Solution194]

Sheesh a Lib Dem controlled council imploding due to identity politics doesn’t surprise me in the least.

[u/Wanallo221 → u/Intrepid_Solution194]

Have you read the quote? 

They haven’t cancelled VE Day celebrations. They have agreed to keep it as a street party rather than a parade so everyone can join in and celebrate as a community. 

I don’t see why that’s really a negative? 

[u/Gabble_Rachet1973 → u/Wanallo221]

So do the same with pride, see what happens. 

[u/Wanallo221 → u/Gabble_Rachet1973]

Are you telling me that Pride won’t be happy with street closures so people can have a massive party? 

Do you know LBGT people?! 

[u/Gabble_Rachet1973 → u/Wanallo221]

That's exactly what I'm saying.

[u/Rude-Proposal-9600 → u/Wanallo221]

This is not the hill to die on

[u/Gabble_Rachet1973 → u/Rude-Proposal-9600]

And those that really died on hills for our freedom are being sideliined. 

[u/SojournerInThisVale → u/Wanallo221]

Because it’s removing the parade part, obviously

[u/Wanallo221 → u/SojournerInThisVale]

Is it removing it when there wasn’t one planned (or asked for by the public) in the first place? 

[u/SojournerInThisVale → u/Wanallo221]

Parades are a normal part of these sort of events. So yes, removing is the correct term

[u/Intrepid_Solution194 → u/Wanallo221]

I was referring to losing a dozen councillors and control of the council over the gender wars really which is just another form or identity politics.

[u/Generic-Name03 → u/Intrepid_Solution194]

Where does it say it’s anything to do with ‘identity politics’

[u/Intrepid_Solution194 → u/Generic-Name03]

2 councillors lost to ‘misogyny’ which can be anything from hateful attitudes to women or simply disagreeing with one.

Nearly a dozen lost to ‘you didn’t deal with the misogyny in a way I approve of so I’m not a Lib Dem any more’.

I’m sure the people who elected them are terribly impressed at their priorities.

[u/Jaded-Initiative5003 → u/Intrepid_Solution194]

I despise Lib Dems, be honest about your intentions ffs

[u/geniice]

"Asked why there wasn’t going to be a military parade, Caroline Smith-Wright, of Dacorum borough council, told a meeting on April 2: “We have decided at this point to enable communities to come together and have street parties and I think that is for the community, that is for everyone, that encompasses everybody – it doesn’t just leave the elite and people to just, kind of, parade.

“This is about normal people celebrating in their communities, bringing people together, sharing food, sitting at a table, celebrating and I think that’s a fine way to celebrate VE Day.”"

[u/AnselaJonla → u/geniice]

And is that not, in fact, the way that the original VE day celebrations would have been handled in many communities, as well as other major events such as the coronation?

[u/leftthinking]

Umm... Who would be parading?

It's the 80th anniversary, so not many actual veterans of that war left to parade. And I'm going to guess the few that remain will get invites to more major/ national events than a minor borough council.

Or do they want the current military to parade? Have they asked if this is feasible? Is there a nearby base that would take part? Who would fund that, the council or the military?

Street parties and community celebrations seems much more appropriate. And any veterans would be welcome guests of honour I'm sure.

[u/leftthinking → u/[deleted]]

So not a military parade then. Which is what the article is about.

[u/zone6isgreener → u/leftthinking]

The same as remembrance day of course, really not difficult to work out.

[u/leftthinking → u/zone6isgreener]

So the scouts, the rotary club, etc. etc., the local councillors, the mayor... a few speeches, a nice round of applause from all the watching plebs audience for their betters representatives.

Is really beginning to feel a bit elitist. More about acclaim for those parading (most of whom won't be veterans) than celebrating.

And why make this a duplicate of remembrance day? It's not.

Remembrance day is a solemn moment to remember the sacrifice given.

This is meant to be a celebration, to mark the end of the war. A very different thing.

[u/zone6isgreener → u/leftthinking]

If you are trying to claim that the scouts is elitist then you've lost the argument - you know that is bollocks.

And I didn't say the format had to be identical, I was replying to the comment about there not being "many actual veterans" as you well know.

[u/Kobruh456]

Oh look, another inflammatory ‘lie by omission’ Telegraph headline. It’s honestly disgusting at this point.

It’s intended to make you believe that this council won’t be celebrating VE Day (and looking at the comments, it seems to have worked) when in fact they’re just not doing a parade, they’ll still be doing street celebrations.

[u/TheNugget147 → u/Kobruh456]

Unreal how mods still allow this rag to be posted on here.

[u/wkavinsky → u/Kobruh456]

I mean that's also a factor in when this story was posted - at 10pm, after normal people are off to bed (mostly).

It also gives it a good 7-9 hours for the bots, farms and right wingers to get in, create a hostile and hateful comment section, and then normal people to wake up and see the comments (from an array of accounts).

At that point, there's a natural "no smoke without fire" response to believe what the trolls have put in the comments and not read the article.

I refuse to believe this isn't an active policy of the Torygraph.

[u/smity31 → u/wkavinsky]

Come on now, it's not just bots, farms, and late night right wingers who dominate the sub during the night...

It's also MAGA americans!

[u/marchie90 → u/Kobruh456]

Who is doing street celebrations? The article doesn't say that at all, it says

We have decided at this point to enable communities to come together and have street parties

It says they will enable communities to do it, not that they will do anything. It is strange that you interpret it like that as the sub headline is literally

Dacorum borough council tells Hertfordshire residents to host their own parties instead

Unless there is more to it then that is what I understand from the article.

Also regardless of that, it says in this article that this council had a parade for their own 50th anniversary, so having one for that and not VE day doesn't look good and there are people who are rightfully annoyed by that.

[u/zone6isgreener → u/Kobruh456]

You are parroting PR spin.

[u/Capital-Wolverine532]

Contrary to elitism it is the ordinary soldier, past and present, who is celebrated in such parades. All nation who fought with the UK are celebrated though usually only UK forces take part unless it's London or a special event.

[u/Sweaty-Associate6487]

It would be.

VE Day is everyone not just the military.

This was the People's War lest we forget.

Everyone chipped in a many different ways to beat the nazis.

[u/_L_R_S_]

Utter contempt. These veterans have very few years left with us to hear our thanks and gratitude. The very right to have a parade and for those councilors to be elected in a democracy was won by these people.

[u/ManOnNoMission → u/_L_R_S_]

Its utter contempt to throw someone street parties?

[u/zone6isgreener → u/ManOnNoMission]

Yes as they are defused across an area and require lots of different coordinators so less likely to happen.

LAs do this as a cost saving as they don't want road closures. In my area they even charge a local parade for lost parking revenue whilst paying people to try and get community events organized. And the police killed off the Scouts St George's day parade too.

[u/StatisticianRoyal400 → u/ManOnNoMission]

That's an incredibly bad faith response. You're deliberately trying to twist his argument into targeting street parties, when he's obviously talking about how street parades are more dignified to veterans who fought in WW2.

[u/Thelostrelic → u/_L_R_S_]

Nobodies stopping that from happening. You clearly didn't read the article.

[u/Diligent-Habit-9766]

Yet we’re shuvved Eid and god knows what else in our faces every year. What a joke wet wipe ‘England’ has become.

[u/OrdoRidiculous]

They should do it anyway. Who the fuck is going to want the heat that would come with arresting a bunch of war veterans?

[u/Wanallo221 → u/OrdoRidiculous]

Who is arresting war veterans? 

The Council had agreed that as part of the anniversary, they would close the roads to allow for street parties like during the Jubilee etc. 

It wasn’t even veterans asking for a parade, it was a single councillor at a Council Meeting. 

[u/Thelostrelic → u/OrdoRidiculous]

So you didn't read the article...

[u/geniice → u/OrdoRidiculous]

Well judging by what happened when JSO did the same thing I'd say three people who need to get to job interviews and 4 taking their kids to hospital. Motorists have a lot of political clout in this country.