Winston Churchill’s Grandson Says Armistice Day Palestine March ‘Must Go Ahead’

Former armed forces minister Lord Nicholas Soames, grandson of iconic wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, has insisted that the pro-Palestinian march scheduled for Armistice Day “must go ahead.”

In a conversation with veteran journalist Andrew Marr on LBC, amid debates on public security and respect for historical observance, Lord Soames championed the cause of freedom—a principle many fought and died for during the war.

Soames’ input comes as the Metropolitan Police have permitted the event, stating the “evidence threshold” for a ban has not been met.

Addressing concerns raised by Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who have expressed that such a march could incite hate and disrespect Armistice Day commemorations, Lord Soames disagreed. He rejected the notion of labelling the marches as “hate marches,” emphasising that the majority of participants are peaceful and intend to express their convictions rather than cause conflict.

He said: “It’s nowhere near the cenotaph, it’s in the afternoon, and most of those people 90 percent of those people are not there to make trouble. They’re there to express a deeply held view and I think it must be allowed to go ahead. And I think it would be a great mistake to play politics with it.”

Lord Soames also cautioned against politicising the march, suggesting it could lead to unnecessary polarisation.

Sunak has called the march “provocative and disrespectful” with Braverman deeming it “entirely unacceptable” and branding it a “hate march.”

Lord Soames grandfather Churchill was British Prime Minister during World War II, led Britain to victory against Nazi Germany. Armistice Day, observed on November 11th, commemorates the end of the World War I and honours the memory of those who have died in military service in conflicts since.