In 1940, Britain stood nearly alone against Nazi Germany. Bombs fell on London night after night, and some in Churchill's own cabinet wanted to explore peace terms with Hitler.
Churchill would not hear of it. He told Parliament that Britain would fight on the beaches, in the fields, and in the streets, and that it would never surrender.
He had no guarantee of victory. What he had was a clear sense of what his country was worth and no interest in apologizing for defending it.
Now look at Westminster today.
Too much of Britain's political leadership seems more afraid of offending someone than standing up for the country it inherited.
Police in England and Wales made more than 12,000 arrests in a single year over offensive online messages, roughly 33 people every day. More than 200,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since records began in 2018. Britain has cycled through seven prime ministers in ten years.
That is not a nation short on courage. It is a political class short on conviction.
The generation that held the line in 1940 did not sacrifice everything so their grandchildren could be questioned by police over a rude post.
The British people still have plenty of bulldog spirit. You see it in working towns, on the football terraces, and in every family that still remembers what their grandparents gave up.
The question is whether their leaders have any left.
What happened to the backbone that once defined British leadership?