NOBODY is obliged to observe tomorrow’s two-minute silence to mark Armistice Day. There should be no condemnation for those who choose not to.

This is, after all, a free country.

But those who believe that the ultimate sacrifice of our soldiers, sailors and airmen, from The Somme to Helmand, deserves to be reflected upon can have no excuse for failing to give up a tiny portion of their lives to pay their respects.

Tomorrow’s 11am silence is lent particular relevance and poignancy by the knowledge that British servicemen and women are fighting and dying daily in Afghanistan.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of this increasingly bloody deployment, the families of the people who are in the thick of it will draw enormous comfort from the silent support of the wider Oxfordshire community.

After all, if we can make the time for shopping, the pub and X-Factor, we can surely spare 120 seconds to honour our war dead.

So please, give our fallen servicemen and women a little of your time tomorrow.