Public Servant Lifestyle

Members of The Royal British Legion re-established their historic link with London government when Baroness Sally Hamwee, deputy chair of the London Assembly, presented them with a new Standard.

A special ceremony, at Southwark Cathedral, saw The Royal British Legion County Hall Branch ‘Lay Up its Standards’, following an invitation from Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, to become the House Branch of the Greater London Authority. The Branch will now be known as The Royal British Legion – Greater London Authority City Hall Branch.

The London veterans handed over to the Cathedral the Standards of the old London County Council and the Greater London Council. These Standards will form the basis of a memorial, not just to Members of the Legion, but also to the elected Members and staff who served London government for over a century, since the inception of the County Councils, in 1889. There is no other memorial of this kind in London, and the Branch is currently denied access to the memorials in the old County Hall.

Baroness Hamwee said: "This is a wonderful opportunity for London’s regional government to remember those people who dedicated their working lives to London’s public services over the last century. This memorial will allow future generations to pay tribute to those who work in sectors that are often unrecognised, but are the cornerstones of our society."

Before the ceremony, more than 30 Standard bearers, including those of the Fire Brigade and Ambulance Service, and several regimental associations, formed a Guard of Honour at the main door of the Cathedral. Assembly Member Valerie Shawcross, in her capacity as Chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, laid a wreath at the memorial to the members of the Fire Brigade who died in the Second World War.

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