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How fitting it is that the passing of Harry Patch at the wonderful age of 111, is arousing so much comment and reflection.

As so many people have said we now no longer have in our midst anyone who took part in the hellish fighting that took place in the First World War. But this makes it all the more important that we remember the extraordinary sacrifices made by the generations who had the misfortune to live through two world wars.

Despite all the difficulties we face we have been a very lucky generation. Even the terrible losses our troops are suffering in Afghanistan, and the painful and tragic consequences to their families, do not bear comparison in scale with the world wars in which millions died.

Men like Harry Patch were prepared to give up their lives in the squalid trenches of France so that we could live in freedom. It has been widely remarked that Harry Patch himself was anti-war. But I do not know anyone who is, on principle, pro-war.

No-one in their right mind wants war. It should always be the option of last resort. That it is sometimes necessary to defend and preserve our freedom, our security or our future as a nation never makes it welcome. We are, surely, all anti-war.

The part of Kent in which we live has a history that is intertwined with wars, past and present. Through the centuries men have left Folkestone and Hythe to take part in distant battles, as they continue to do today.

Currently there is under way a vigorous debate about how we can best commemorate that vital part of our history. Damian Collins, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for the constituency at the next election, is playing a leading part in these efforts, with my full support.

I am confident that these efforts will succeed. When that has been achieved we will have played our part in paying tribute to Harry Patch and his generation and to those who preceded and followed him.