The government has announced a new national day "to honour and remember" victims and survivors of terrorism in the UK.

The event will take place on 21 August in a different location across the country each year, with the first held in 2026, the Home Office has said.

It comes after a campaign by families and survivors, including those affected by the Westminster Bridge and Manchester arena attacks.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: "We will stand together as a nation – honouring all those impacted by terrorism and the horrific experiences they have endured".

Few details have been released about the first event next summer, but the government said it would keep working with victims and survivors to discuss the day's exact name and design a symbol.

The Home Office said the day would focus on "remembering and recognising those impacted by terrorism, encouraging victims and survivors to access specialist support, educating the public, and amplifying victims' and survivors' stories".

The chosen date coincides with the UN International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, which began in 2017.

Travis Frain, survivor of the Westminster Bridge attack, said he had "fought tirelessly" for the UK to adopt a national day of this kind to help "educate the next generation".

He added that it was "important that as a society we commemorate and remember those affected – for the impacts are often lifelong".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdd541624j1o

Posted by OneNormalBloke

12 comments

  1. Relatives of the girls stabbed at Southport obviously excluded…

  4. I think this is a great initiative. Terrorism is so horrific it’s hard for Survivors to talk about day to day, hopefully a specific day of rememberance will be able to act as a day of greif and strength. I didn’t know the UN has a day of terrorism remembrance.

  5. All of the attacks mentioned were of a specific ideology (that went unnamed in the article) . Will these events put focus on preventing these ideologies from spreading? Or will they just hold a bigger, sadder event the year after if another attack takes place? 

  6. The left will be out with refugees welcome signs

  7. “We let thinkgs get so bad we’ve had to create a specific day for it.” Thanks, politicians.

  8. How far does this go back? Is it counting the various victims of the IRA?

    Birmingham pub bombing, Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings, Grand Hotel bombing, Baltic Exchange, Warrington bombings..

    Lockerbie bombing?

    I am a bit concerned this might become an ideological focus point for some.

  9. No point. Spend the money on additional anti-terror resources, deradicalisation programmes for young men, community initiatives where local people identify and safely report terror adjacent activity. Something that solves the problem or at the very least, moves the needle. Thin symbolic gestures are the last thing anybody needs.

  10. Id much rather we do more to prevent, and fight against more occuring, which includes stopping importing people we have no idea about than giving them a new day to target every year.

  11. How long until one of these is attacked?

    Headline: “British man attacks vigil mourning terror victims”

    ‘British’….

  12. How long before this concept turns into a hopeless swamp of “how dare you mention X but not Y”?

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