Ive just been to visit the queen. I am proud to lead the First Coalition government in years, and i would like to thank all those who work to make it a success, and in particular, nick like. Elections can be clashes of ideas and arguments, and a lot of people who believe profoundly in Public Service have seen the service cut short. Ed miliband me this morning to wish me luck with the new government. It was a generous gesture from someone who is clearly in Public Service for all the right reasons. The government i lead did important work. It laid the foundations for a Better Future, and now we must build on it. I truly believe we are on the brink of Something Special in our country. We could make britain a place where a good life is in place for everybody willing to work and do the right thing. Our manifesto is a manifesto for working people. As a majority government, we will be able to deliver all of this. It is the reason i think the majority government is more accountable. 3 million apprenticeships, more help with childcare helping 30 Million People cope with the cost of living by cutting their taxes, building homes people are able to buy. Creating millions more jobs that gives people the chance of a Better Future, and yes, we will deliver that referendum on our future in europe. As we conduct this vital work, we must ensure we bring our country together. As i said in the small hours of this morning, we will govern as one nation, one United Kingdom. That means rebalancing our economy. It means giving everyone in our country a chance so in a matter where you are from you have the opportunity to make the most of your life. It means giving the poorest people the chance of training, a job, and hope for the future. It means the children who dont get the best start in life, there must been or shri education and good schooling that can transform their lives and of course, it means bringing together different nations of our United Kingdom. I have always believed in governing with respect. Thats why the last parliament we devolved our to scotland and wales and give the people of scotland a referendum on whether to stay inside the United Kingdom. In this parliament i will stay true to my word and implement as fast as i can the devolution that all parties agreed for wales, scotland, and northern ireland. Governing with respect means recognizing the different nations of our United Kingdom have their own governments as well as the United Kingdom government. Both are important, and indeed with our plans, the governments of these nations will become more powerful, with wider responsibilities. In scotland, our plans are to create the strongest government anywhere in the world with imported powers over taxation. No constitutional settlement will be complete if it did not offer also fairness to england. When i stood here five years ago, our country was in the grip of an economic crisis. Five years on, britain is so much stronger. The real opportunities lie ahead. Everything i have seen over the past five years and indeed during this Election Campaign has proven once again this is a country with unrivaled skills and creativeness, a country with such good humor and such great compassion, and im convinced if we draw on all of this, we can take these islands with our proud history and build and even prouder future. Together we can make Great Britain greater still. Thank you. [applause] parliament will be in recess this week. It will return may 18. Later marking the end of world war ii in europe. It started with two minutes of silence. This is about 30 minutes. Prime minister David Cameron. Ed miliband told the press Conference Today his resignation would take effect after this service. Nick clegg announced his resignation. This morning the Prime Minister said we should start by recognizing those who served our country. The first minister of wales. His royal highness, the duke of york. On this anniversary of victory in europe, as we prepare for two minutes of silence, all the elements are in place to pay tribute to all the men and women who helped secure peace and freedom for our world. [bells] [horns] wills scotland, and northern ireland, representing. Wales scotland, and northern ireland, representing. Caroline jones, first minister. Representatives of the chiefs. The marshall. The National President of the Royal British legion, formed in 1921 to support veterans of the great war. Now 100 years later and after many more lives have been sacrificed during conflicts, the legion continues to offer support to members of the armed forces. Admiral sir peter wilkinson. The last race laid by Randolph Churchill and robert gale. Robert gale, who was loading his Landing Craft with ammunition after the amphibious invasion of rangoon in 1945. When he heard about the end of the war in europe. On this day at this hour we commemorate the 70th anniversary. We give thanks to all who played their part in achieving victory in the Second World War. We remember with sorrow all of those who were killed and whose lives were changed forever. The reverend two her majestys forces. Randolph churchill will read extract from his greatgrandfather, Winston Churchill. Randolph the extract from the eighth of may, 1945. Yesterday morning at 2 41 a. M. At headquarters, the representatives of the germans and the grand admiral designated head of the german state signed the act of Unconditional Surrender of all german land seas, and air forces to Expeditionary Forces and simultaneously. Today is victory in europe day. Hostilities will and officially at one minute after midnight tonight. In the interest of saving lives, the ceasefire began yesterday to be signed all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today. The german war is therefore over. After years of intense preparations the beginning of september, 1939. In pursuance of our guarantee to poland and an agreement with the french republic, Great Britain the british empire, and the commonwealth of nations declared war upon this foul aggression. After france had been struck down, we from this island and from our united empire maintain the struggle singlehanded for a whole year until we were joined by the military might of soviet russia and later by the overwhelming power and resources of the United States of america. We may allow a brief rejoicing but lets not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead. We must now devote our strength and resources to the completion of our task, at home and abroad. Advance brittania, long live the cause of freedom. God save the king. Almighty god, we this each the that we honor to the memory of those who have died in the service to their country may be so inspired by the spirit of their love and fortitude that forgetting all selfish and unworthy motives, we may live only to thy glory and for service of mankind through jesus christ our lord. Amen. Teach us, good lord to serve thee as thou deserve it. To fight and not to heed the wounds to toil and not to seek for rest. To labor and not desire any reward save knowing that we do thy will through jesus christ our lord. Amen. Our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, they will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from people, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever ever and ever, amen. Under gods gracious mercy and protection we commit you. The lord bless you and keep you. The lord shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The lord lift up his countenance upon you. Amen. [god save the queen] the duke of york leaving by the foreign and commonwealth office. The politicians take their leave. They have joined this pause. A victory for some. Defeat for others. They have come here to pay their respect. Robert gale. Representatives of the three services. The navy, the army, the air force. A respectful moment. Beautifully done with the simplicity that marks a lot of the remembrance in britain. One sees it in the cemeteries, or all over the world. Beautifullymaintained memorial. Today is the start of the ve day weekend. It is ve day. It is the solemn remembrance today. The mood will change. I think the mood will change. There was a lot of solemnity in 1945, especially for those whod lost ones during the war, as so many had, but then of course the mood did change to one of celebration. Though not as a riotous celebration as greeted the armistice in 1918. Do you think it is because of the Second World War went on that much longer, the end was a long time in coming . I think it was. The people of britain were much more affected by the Second World War than the first. Rationing, intensive bombing destruction of cities. Chaos. The invitation now goes to the public to lay a wreath. Its that all embracing invitation to take part in todays remembrance. One sees in the groups of veterans so many of the different branches represented. I have spotted at least three old soldiers wearing berets with the polish eagle. That served alongside the we must remember the allies that served alongside the british during the war. And the germans that fled not nazi germany. Germans, nonjewish and jewish came to this country as refugees. They took part in fighting that regime. Others served in the regiments as well. The 19 standards of the british legion. The silence has been broken and we have the applause, a sense of celebration can begin. Yes. The anniversary must bring back memories both happy and unhappy for those veterans today remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of freedom. On this day 70 years ago, peace at last returned to europe. It would be another three months before victory in the far east was seen. Then the most destructive global conflict ever seen was finally over. Shortly the barriers will be removed, and the public, having laid their wreaths, will disperse, too. Tomorrow, two sunni leaders from iraq discuss the political future of their country. Posted by the Brookings Institute posted by the brookings hosted by the Brookings Institute. [speaking german] federal president , madame chancellor president of the federal Constitutional Court excellencies colleagues, guests. The eighth of may was a day of liberation. When these words were spoken in the address to the german bundestag 30 years ago today in bonn, not the first person to express this view, but the first to do so with the authority which resides in the head of state, it did not reflect broad public opinion. But perceptions were changing, and today it is a view which is shared by the majority of germans. The 8th of may marked the end of a war which was started and was waged by germany, by a German Government with criminal energy. By the end, it had claimed more than 50 million lives, including the lives of around eight million germans. 70 years ago today the guns finally fell silent in europe, after almost six years. After 2,077 days of terrible war. Germanys Unconditional Surrender followed its total defeat in a war whose criminal nature most germans had failed to recognize until it was too late. Indeed, many were reluctant to admit it to themselves for years afterwards. A viennese writer, at the time an emigre in london and later a nobel laureate, wrote, it is a measure of the selfdelusion in which the germans have been living. The enormity of their delusion the blinding power of their hopeless belief which is so profoundly disquieting. And he asked. What is left of them . What else are they without their dreadful military faith . Where else can they fall . What will catch them . End of quote. The germans could not have fallen further from grace politically, economically and morally. So it is even more astonishing that despite our countrys guilt, its fall was broken by the other european nations, by our neighbors on whom germany itself had inflicted so much unimaginable suffering. Which, after the war, was not by a community of nations which, after the war, was not the same as before. Our neighbors willingness to embark on a journey of reconciliation is as fantastic as any other. Ladies and gentlemen, today we remember the remember the millions of victims of a uniquely terrible war of annihilation against other nations and people, against slovs and the european jews. The 8th of may was therefore a day of liberation for the entire continent. But it was not a day on which the jermaine apps liberated on which the germans liberated themselves. While we would not wish to forget the brave germans who mounted resistance to hitler today our thoughts and respects are primarily windows who, with those who, serving with the western allies and in the red army, ended National Socialist tyranny and suffered unimaginable losses. Federal president i am confident i am speaking on behalf of the entire chamber in thanking you and also the federal chancellor and the foreign minister for your visits and gestures and speeches which you have held over the past two days at cemeteries, at memorial sites, and also at concentration camps. [applause] during the dying days of the war, the soviet troops in berlin focused their energies on seizing the reichstag buildings. But after the fire in february of 1933, it ceased to be the seat of parliament under the National Socialists for many years. Indeed, it did not regain that status for another five decades after the end of the war. When this finally became possible after german reunification, we made a conscious decision to restore and preserve much of the graffiti that the soviet soldiers had scribbled on the walls during those final days of the war in may, 1945, because these are authentic symbols of the end of the car and the end of the war and the chance of a new beginning. Ladies and gentlemen, the 8th of may was both an end and a beginning. It was a day of liberation. For the war had to end, of course, before it was possible to make a fresh start, with new opportunities to shape a different and Better Future. This new beginning itself bore the scars of war. The United Nations charter and the ambitious project to overcome europes failed nationalism through a union of states contrasted starkly with a Nuclear Standoff in a bipolar world. And with the decades of division and with the decades of division of our continent and our country. In the western occupation zone, the germans learned the antitotalitarian lessons of the past and thus embarked on the long road west. Doing so separately at first and then finally together. The professor, with this phrase, aptly sums up the long road west, how the end of war was to affect the federal republic. It is precisely because the 8th of may was not about german liberation that the day of our past became a process of painful internal liberation. But this does not mean liberating ourselves from our own history. On the contrary, it means facing up to our own history, even when it is difficult to bear. We are convinced that it is only through awareness of our bitter experience that we can shape the present and the future in a politically responsible manner and serve peace and freedom in the world. Last year, professor, you pointed out more clearly than others that we are living at a time of great Global Political change and that these changes have shaken many of the believes beliefs that were born out of history and were previously regard as absolute. Regarded as absolute. In light of these challenges, i wish to thank you for your willingness to explain from a historians and active citizens perspective what the 8th of may means for us today. But first, we will hear the Second Movement of Joseph Haydns string quarter set in c major, a somewhat melancholy series of variations on a theme long familiar throughout the world, not only to music lovers. Haydn composed the melody in 1797 during the french revolutionary wars as a tribute to the austrian emperor. And as a challenge to the martial spirit of the later, during the german socalled premarch, the interlude between the festival and the convening of the parliament, another wrote versus haydn wrote another verse to accompany the melody, voicing an impassioned plea for a democratic constitution. The eventful history of this song of germans mirrors the germans long road west as it is called by the professor in his seminal work. The long road west this encapsulates the twists and turns of the germans journey from the hubris of the richland deutsche land to the perversion by National Socialism and up until the federal republic, unity, justice, and freedom as the Guiding Principles of a democratic germany, a germany which, for seven decades, has lived in peace and freedom with its neighbors. We are grateful for this, and we will always remain in debted indebted to our friends, neighbors, and partners. [applause] [applause] [applause] federal president , president of the german bundestag, madame chancellor, president of the federal Constitutional Court, members, excellence says, members of the german bundestag, excellencies. Ladies and gentlemen. In the whole of german history there is no greater watershed than the date whose 7