Ex-servicemen have written to Defence Secretary Grant Shapps to express concerns about an alleged Army policy stating that Remembrance Day should be "agnostic of religious elements". 

The Telegraph reports that the guidance was published in June 2022 with the aim of promoting inclusion and diversity. 

It states that "Acts of Remembrance, on Armistice Day and others, should be inclusive and seek to avoid being conducted as a wholly religious event".

The letter to Shapps has been signed by 12 former senior military figures, including Major General Julian Thompson, Rear Admiral Roger Lane-Nott and Lieutenant General Sir Henry Beverly. 

In the letter, they call the policy "a particular insult to our ancestors who fought and died to lead the world in ending slavery" and said that civic culture across the UK on 11th November is "sacred, Christian, tolerant and inclusive on our terms".

"No one should need to be reminded that this is a welcoming, inclusive and basically Christian country," they said. 

The newspaper reports that Shapps, who is Jewish, is "furious" about the policy and is "not offended one bit by Christian remembrance services". 

"In fact, he believes it's at the core of our nation's history and who we are," a source close to Shapps told The Telegraph.