In two minutes' time at 11am on 11.11.11, 91 years after the Armistice that ended World War 1, the nation will stop to honour those who have been killed in armed conflict.
Whether you agree with a particular conflict or not, it's right that we honour those who have given their lives. and stop to think about the children who grew up never knowing their fathers, about the parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends, partners who had to go on without them.
Today, there will be another element to the nation's act of remembrance. Tower Bridge, an iconic landmark, a global symbol of the UK, will open for the two minute silence. The reason this is happening is because Robert Smith MP took forward an idea brought to him by a constituent, Eric E Sangster. Mr Sangster had been in London near Tower Bridge one 11th November and had noticed that the traffic didn't stop. When he told Bob Smith about it, he wrote to the relevant authorities asking if the Bridge could be opened and here we are today.
At this moment, Mr Sangster will be poised to operate the controls himself. This photo shows Bob Smith and Mr Sangster at the War Memorial in Banchory and was taken and is reproduced with the permission of Bob Smith's office. I hope to have some more of the actual moment of the Bridge opening later.
I think this is a great idea and hope that it continues every year.
