We must take inspiration from D-Day to meet the challenges of this new era - John Healey

We owe our freedoms today to their bravery and their sacrifice - which will be felt especially closely by the over 10k Armed Forces personnel based in Yorkshire and the Humber.

And to the coordination and commitment of allies. This became the basis for Britain’s post-war Labour government to establish NATO and the UK nuclear deterrent. Labour has deep roots in the defence of this country and a fierce pride in our nation’s armed forces.

British forces are respected worldwide for their professionalism, high standards and all-round excellence. They are deployed worldwide defending us and our allies, as they’ve done during the decades since 1945.

We’ve seen this in recent months as UK forces get military aid into Ukraine, reinforce NATO allies on the Russian border and deliver food, water and medicines to Palestinians in war-torn Gaza.

Very few of those D-Day troops are still living. Three dozen have returned today to the Normandy beaches to honour killed comrades, commemorate the landings and urge younger generations to keep the lessons of the past alive for the future.

Working together with like-minded nations – as we did on D-Day – is the UK’s strategic strength. We now face a decade of increasing threats from autocrats who have contempt for international law and freely squander the lives of their own people. We have to raise UK defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, and we will as soon as possible. With stronger UK alliances and leadership we can prevail against this aggression, just like we did in the past.

D-Day showed what Britain can do when we work together with allies. Eighty years on, we must do the same to meet the challenges of this new era.

John Healey is the Shadow Defence Secretary.