THE moving tributes to Sir Nicholas Winton as part of the Memorial Service for him at London’s Guildhall a few days ago provoked several thoughts.

It may have been skilful camera work, but the images on ITV showed no politicians or well known faces apart from Esther Rantzen.

Simply people whose lives or relationships were made possible as a result of his actions.

It was the lack of support from various governments and politicians that meant that the number of children rescued was so much smaller than Winton had hoped.

He suggested later that a further 2,000 could have been saved had other governments stepped.

As well as organising the transport, he found homes for these children fleeing from the horrors of Kristallnacht.

The responses in 1938 seem so similar to the reactions today from our government and others to those fleeing the death and destruction in places like Libya, Syria and Afghanistan.

The partial Government U turn seemed less a graceful admission of their error and more a stumbling attempt to avoid political damage.

Is it too much to hope for, that a generation of those willing to be our representatives would be made of firmer stuff?

Residents of Brighton and Hove and further afield have already offered homes to those fleeing war torn lands.

We need politicians who will embrace those offers and also do more to end wars. We still await the much promised strategy for our bombing of Syria which our Government debated on December 2.