National Day Of Remembrance For Wales

I am very pleased to announce to the Assembly that the Remembrance Day Service at the Welsh National War Memorial in Cathays Park in Cardiff will from this year onwards be a Welsh National Service of Remembrance.  

Members will be aware that in recent years I have attended the Remembrance Day Service at Llandaff Cathedral along with the Presiding Officer and other party leaders.  I am grateful to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral for enabling us to do this.

It has always been my view that the Service of Remembrance at the Memorial in Cathays Park, Cardiff should be developed into a national ceremony. It should be the nearest equivalent possible to the ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

I am very pleased therefore to report to the Assembly that following discussions between the Secretary of State for Wales and the Leader of Cardiff City Council, myself and Party leaders here in the Assembly, agreement has been reached on arrangements that will make this national service a reality.  In future, the Presiding Officer along with the four Party Leaders in the Assembly will be laying wreaths on behalf of the people of Wales alongside the representative of Her Majesty, the Secretary of State, the Royal British Legion, and the armed forces’ representatives in Wales. The City and County Council will continue to represent the people of the Cardiff in the same ceremony.  

I am grateful to everyone involved in enabling this service to become a truly national Welsh service of remembrance so that Wales as a whole can be seen to pay proper tribute to the Welsh men and women who sacrificed their lives in two World Wars and in other conflicts in the world.