Lest we forget.

It is now 68 years since Winston Churchill announced to the British people that the war with Germany was over. The surrender had been signed the previous day at the American Headquarters in Rheims. The following day, the surrender was ratified in Berlin by the Russian leader, Joseph Stalin. Meanwhile, Japan remained at war until August when the dropping of two atomic bombs arguably changed history forever.

Estimates of the fatalities generated by that war vary between 50 and 75 million lives. Such numbers almost render the value of those lives meaningless. In just six years, the equivalent of the current population of the UK was wiped out. Of course, all war is pointless and this one served to underline this better than most. Against huge odds, Churchill orchestrated an unfeasible victory and eventually secured peace. In the aftermath of the Second World War political idealogy was polarised between those living to the West of Berlin and those to the East. It took 45 years to bring down that wall and begin the process of idealogical softening. The cost of victory to the UK was crippling. The attrocities exacted upon enemies during that war were of the most unspeakable, inhumane nature. In some ways, it is easier not to read about them and live our lives in ignorance of them. That would fail to learn from them though.

The price of this war left the UK on the cusp of bankruptcy. Only for the provision of long term loans by our American allies were we able slowly to emerge from the ashes. One of the first decisions of the newly elected Labour government was to embark on a project of Nationalisation of our industries, most notably coal. That time in our history is often referred to as the age of austerity and here we are again!

This would be rather more difficult today since we have so little national industry to speak of. The obscene profits being generated by the privatised utility companies do provide a good example of where nationalisation would actually benefit people though. It was four years ago almost to the day that the then Chancellor Alistair Darling warned that we faced our worst fiscal outlook since the second world war. This, I think, sums up just what a complete mess the Labour government had made of the economy. On the day we should be remembering VE day and the millions of lives sacrificed along the way, it is instructive to consider the impact of mismanagement and speculation on the nation's finances. The Second World War was inevitable since Nazi Germany had made their intentions clear. We had no choice and the debt accumulated by its end was the price we had to pay. The last government did have a choice though and for thirteen years they kept getting it wrong. When times were good they spent money like water. When times were bad, they spent money like water. They now have the gall to accuse the incumbent government of not spending enough to stimulate the economy. On a technical note, we don't have that money to spend. To householders up and down the country, this is the principle by which they lead their lives so it is baffling to understand why the last government felt itself exempt!

Although it is the anniversary of Victory in Europe day, it would not have been obvious reading the BBC news today. We had notification of the Queen's speech as the main headline. Fair enough. We then had blanket coverage of the retirement from football management of Alex Ferguson. As a role model to thousands of young players, he has represented the worst aspects of the professional era. He has silverware certainly but the way he has acquired it would have been difficult to understand for those who lost their lives in the war. I do hope that by tomorrow, the BBC can discover something more worthwhile upon which to report. There must surely be more reason than ever to remember the events of 68 years ago - if we intend to learn from them.