Lest We Forget

Reviewing The Promise in this week's Spectator, James Delingpole bemoans the fact that "Even today, shockingly, there is no memorial in Britain to the servicemen who died" in British Mandated Palestine. Of course he is quite right, as well as being an interesting example of the present turn away from neoconservatism by those more traditional Tories and their equivalents who were previously its fellow-travellers.

We could and should be shamed on this one by a war memorial which probably could not currently be erected in Jerusalem, and certainly could not currently be erected in Nazareth, but probably could be in Bethlehem. A memorial to those killed by Irgun, Lehi and all the rest of them.

Blessed in the sight of the BBC by (among others, of course) the Latin Patriarch and the Anglican Archbishop, both visibly robed as such, and both introduced as such by the reporter for the benefit of the folks back home. Cue a subsequent explanatory piece, complete with interviews with any surviving veterans. Newspaper articles within a three-day radius, you know the drill.

And a member of the Royal Family in attendance, laying a wreath? If not, why not? After all, two of the most prominent are serving officers. The explicit invitation should be included in the announcement from Ramallah that this memorial was to be erected. After all, Ramallah is already sending its Officer Cadets to Sandhurst. Commonwealth membership beckons. As it does for Egypt, which still has a currency called the pound.