This year’s Armed Forces Day should first and foremost be conducted in honour of the 486 British soldiers who have lost their lives and the 13,464 soldiers who have been wounded in the Lib-Lab-Con’s Lie Machine-generated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said British National Party leader Nick Griffin MEP.

“Today should be a day when Britain celebrates our armed forces, their history, heritage, sacrifice and service,” Mr Griffin said.

“All British patriots will indeed stand in honour of our forces. We are immensely proud of them and all that they have done for our land.

“The shadow over today’s services is the war which our army is currently fighting in Afghanistan and the conflict in Iraq,” Mr Griffin continued.

“As the record shows, the Lib-Lab-Con Lie Machine deliberately tricked the British people into supporting the invasion of both those countries on the basis of the most shocking lies yet seen in public life.

“The public were told that Afghanistan needed to be invaded to stop terrorism. In reality, nothing has changed and Islamist terrorist attacks have actually increased since the invasion.

“The public were then told that Iraq needed to be invaded to stop Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, mobile chemical laboratories and atom bombs. All of that was a lie as well,” he said.

The price Britain’s armed forces have paid for these lies have been horrendous. In Iraq, a total of 179 British soldiers were killed and 5,970 suffered injuries, many of them serious and life-changing.

In Afghanistan, the latest fatality toll is 307, with a further 7,494 injured.

“The life of one British soldier is not worth even a syllable of the lies uttered by Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg,” Mr Griffin continued.

“Our brave armed forces are more than prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of our nation. That is their tradition, and our nation’s collective heart fairly bursts with pride at their valour, dedication and sacrifice throughout the ages.

“So as we today honour our armed forces, let us not forget those heroes who are still out in the field. Let us join the increasing chorus which is rising across our land: support our troops but bring them home, for humanity’s sake, bring them home.”

The following poem was given to Mr Griffin by one of our members in Cumbria, Helen Stevenson, whose son is currently on a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

It shows the emotions and the unseen suffering of the families and loved ones at home. It is a potent reminder of the scale of suffering unseen by the public and unremarked upon by the mass media.

Helen has showed great courage in sharing this with the chairman. Please read it and ponder on this conflict.  

To hold my precious grandson

To hear the pride of his dad,

It should make me so happy

But it makes me scared and sad.

Will he ever come back to cuddle him

And stroke his tiny hand?

Will he ever return from fighting

In that far off, foreign land?

Will this loving little baby

Ever chuckle to his dad?

Or will 'Dad' just be a story

That will always make him sad?

Will daddy be there to take him

On his very first school run?

Or will he be among our Fallen

Killed by bomb or by the gun?

Will his dad be there to help him

When he takes his driving test?

Or many years before that

Will we have laid my Boy to rest?

If the bloody politicians

Sent their own sons off to fight,

Oh, then they'd quickly change their minds

"This war just isn't right".

Mr. Brown, while you're tucked up

So safe in bed each night,

My son is out there with his mates

Prepared to stand and fight.

Why can't you do the right thing?

Tell them, bring home their guns.

Set me free to place my grandson

In the arms of my soldier son.