Category: Parliament

Gagan Mohindra – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made to Gagan Mohindra, the Conservative MP for South West Hertfordshire, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

It is a sad honour to be called to speak in these tributes to Her late Majesty. As many colleagues have said, she was a constant throughout our lives. I have said before that I regard myself as a son of the Commonwealth; one of the proudest realisations in the past 48 hours is that while we may have lost our Queen, the world has lost “the” Queen.

The Queen visited South West Hertfordshire a few times, and the last two visits of which I am aware are emblematic of who she was. In 2010, she opened the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, in the south of my constituency; all my ex-military friends are sorrowful about her passing. Her most recent visit was in 2016, when she came to visit Berkhamsted School, of which my hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Robert Courts) is an alumnus. She was a patron of the school, which was celebrating its 475th anniversary. When I visited the school recently, I could still see the look of wonder in the eyes of the children who had had the honour of meeting her. I never had that honour, but when I was a lot younger, on the rare occasions when my parents used to drive past Buckingham Palace, we always looked with fondness to see whether the royal standard was up. My father, probably treasonously, used to say, “Is Auntie Liz in?”

Like most families, mine have been speaking about the Queen over the past few days. My brother-in-law mentioned that normally people have photos of their loved ones in their wallet or purse. I would argue that each and every one of us has a photo of our loved one, the Queen, by virtue of the notes. I think that that is a fitting tribute to someone I regard as an amazing woman.

On behalf of the constituents of South West Hertfordshire, may I send my condolences to the whole royal family? They have lost a loved one, and the country has lost a great champion for our values. I do not think that there will be another like her for many generations to come. God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Simon Fell – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Simon Fell, the Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

I rise to pay tribute, and to offer heartfelt condolences on behalf of the people of Barrow and Furness, and my family, to King Charles and his family on the death of Her late Majesty.

Her Majesty served our nation for 70 years with a remarkable and unstinting sense of duty that should inspire us all, but even with tens of thousands of hours of her life captured on film and written about in so many column inches, we knew nothing about her politics or her views on any policy debated in this place, despite what we may have thought or suspected. The fact that she held audiences with Prime Ministers through wars, pandemics and times of national crisis and kept her counsel, even with the passage of so many years, speaks volumes about her character and her sense of duty.

Her Majesty was a fixture in our lives. All my life she has been there: she has been a constant. When I was young and fell in love with books for the first time, there she was, greeting Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant at the end of Roald Dahl’s novel. What I saw in my mind was not a character in a story with a crown on her head; it was our Queen. She was so much a part of our world and my world, and so magical at the same time, that of course it was entirely possible that it was Her Majesty taking breakfast with a giant.

I am glad that that sense of wonder and magic crosses the generations. My children were delighted to see the Queen sharing the screen and her jam sandwiches with Paddington Bear. She was comfortable with herself and her role—always a steady hand on the tiller of our nation as our unflappable, constant monarch, but still aware of what she meant to people and the joy and comfort that she could and did bring.

Her late Majesty was a friend and frequent visitor to Barrow and south Lakeland. She launched HMS Dreadnought, our first nuclear submarine, and when she launched the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible a crowd of 15,000 people gathered in the drizzle to witness her blessing the ship and christening it with a bottle of elderberry wine. She visited Furness General Hospital, our town hall and the North-West Evening Mail and opened our market. Celebrating her platinum jubilee, I was struck by just how many constituents came forward with stories of times they had met Her Majesty and just how important those moments were to them. Many of those moments were fleeting, but the impact that they made was substantial.

It has been quoted a few times today and yesterday, but Her late Majesty once said:

“Grief is the price we pay for love.”

We loved that remarkable lady for her service, her dignity and her unstinting dedication to the nation and to her people. In grief, we can reflect on that dedication to us and perhaps draw some comfort from her service and her life. I certainly hope that her family and His Majesty King Charles will find solace in the grace and gratitude of our nation. May she rest in peace. God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Jason McCartney – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Jason McCartney, the Conservative MP for Colne Valley, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

I rise on behalf of my constituents to pay tribute to Her Majesty the Queen’s decades of service to our nation—decades of service delivered with humility, with warmth, with wisdom, and with gentle humour.

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for woods and trees, I wrote to all my local schools earlier this year inviting them to take part in the Queen’s green canopy scheme—planting a tree for the jubilee. I visited many of those schools, and we planted the tree. Afterwards, we had a Q&A session. I was often asked if I knew Boris. “Yes, he is my boss,” I would say—or “was my boss”. Was I rich? I tried to not really answer that one. Then, of course, I would always be asked whether I had ever met the Queen. I would say, “Yes, a number of times—I have been very fortunate”, and the children would gasp with excitement. I would tell them about the number of times I had met her while, as a young Royal Air Force officer, I was based at RAF West Raynham in Norfolk, near Fakenham. Sandringham was just up the road, so Her Majesty was a regular visitor to our RAF station.

Some 20 years after that, as an MP, I was invited to Buckingham Palace, as MPs are, for an audience with Her Majesty. She was asking me about my constituency, and I told her that the market town of Holmfirth was in my patch. I said, “Your Majesty, it is where they film ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ on BBC One”, and her face lit up with a big smile. I do not know whether she watched it or not, but to this day I have a lovely image of her sitting down in an armchair on a Sunday teatime, after a busy week, turning on BBC One, and enjoying the gentle antics of Nora Batty, Compo and Cleggy—not that Cleggy! [Laughter.] And—relax.

The past 48 hours have been a very emotional time for our nation, but having listened to my constituents today, I know that they were greatly comforted by His Majesty the King’s reassuring and deeply personal address to the nation last night. I look forward to heading back to Yorkshire this evening so that I can be at Huddersfield town hall tomorrow for the royal proclamation. Let me end by simply saying this: God bless Her Majesty the Queen, and God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Jo Churchill – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made to Jo Churchill, the Conservative MP for Bury St Edmunds, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for your indulgence in allowing the Whips to speak and pay tribute.

I rise to give thanks for the wonderful, long life of Her Majesty, our Queen Elizabeth, on behalf of myself, but also the people of the Bury St Edmunds constituency. As many others have said, she was ours—for each and every one of us. She was special to us individually, young and old, in this great country, in the Commonwealth and beyond. We have relied on her to be there, and on her constancy, her service, her humour and her love.

Many in this Chamber, as others have said, have recounted amusing tales of those twinkling eyes resting on them and that sense of fun. She has visited my constituency, like others, many times, the final occasion being for the Maundy service in our cathedral, and she left her mark.

But as I sat in this Chamber and we listened to the King yesterday, as my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell) said, I wanted to say this: that our thoughts and prayers are with her family and her friends, who, for their entire lives, have had to share with us their mother, their grandmother, their great-grandmother, their friend or, for her dear late husband, his wife. May they now be comforted by us, and by our expressions of gratitude and love for the late Queen, as they carry on, as she did, with duty and stoicism, constantly and consistently showing us the way. So to her we say thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, although it feels not enough. As her faith took her through her life, may it take her on her final journey, and may she rest in peace.

Finally, earlier this week I was truly honoured to be appointed Vice-Chamberlain, so I say with feeling, in anticipation of having to write to His Majesty the King daily, God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Aaron Bell – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Aaron Bell, the Conservative MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

It is a sad privilege to rise to speak on behalf of my constituents in Newcastle-under-Lyme, to offer our condolences to His Majesty and the whole royal family, and to give thanks for the life and service of Her Majesty.

As Britons, we are lucky to live in a constitutional monarchy, but to have had the Queen as our constitutional monarch we were more than lucky; we were blessed. I believe that she is the greatest public servant this nation has ever seen. Through 70 years, she has led this nation through profound challenges and seen profound change, not just in this nation but throughout the world and across the Commonwealth. She has led and guided us throughout with her grace, her wisdom and her example. She visited us in Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1973 for our octocentenary. Constituents of mine of a certain age will remember that, and as we prepare to celebrate 850 years next year, those memories will now be all the more poignant.

As we remember Her Majesty, I would like to pay tribute to the way that she has led this nation. Only earlier this week we had the transfer of power. She continued to take her constitutional responsibilities with the utmost seriousness to the end, and I am sure the Prime Minister was extremely grateful for her advice only on Tuesday.

I have sat in the Chamber and listened to much of the debate, both yesterday and today. There have been some very fine and moving speeches, and some very funny ones, on all sides. I think the finest speech I have heard was not from the Dispatch Box or from these Benches, and it was not even from the Opposition Benches. It was from the monitor screens in here yesterday, when we listened to His Majesty address the nation. It was a profoundly fine and moving speech, and it confirmed to me what I already knew from his many years of service as the Prince of Wales: that the Crown is in very safe hands and that we can look forward with confidence as we go through yet another trying time for our nation. He will follow his mother’s example, leading us into a new era. God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Robert Courts – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Robert Courts, the Conservative MP for Witney, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

Thursday was one of those days when it seems as if the world has stopped. In the streets, crowds of people looked at the notifications coming up on their phones, stopped and looked at each other without speaking, because everyone was thinking the same thing: the day that we all hoped would never come had finally come. It was the day we lost the best servant and best leader that this country could ever hope to have.

Since then we have been thinking, as we have heard from the speeches in the House, about the incredible honour and privilege it is to be able to call ourselves Elizabethans. I rise to pay tribute to Her Majesty on my behalf, that of my family, and that of my constituency of Witney and west Oxfordshire.

I think about the early contact that west Oxfordshire had with Her Majesty, the first example of which may have been in 1928, during the reign of King George VI, when its most famous son, Winston Churchill, stayed with the royal family at Balmoral. He wrote to his wife Clementine:

“There is no one here at all except the family, the Household & Princess Elizabeth—aged 2. The last is a character. She has an air of authority & reflectiveness astonishing in an infant”.

Is it not extraordinary, yet not surprising, that Winston Churchill picked out so early the very qualities in Her Majesty that would make her such a revered individual, the most famous woman in the world and the most revered monarch in our history? She had an easy authority, which so many hon. Members have referred to today.

Throughout her 70 years of service, she saw unparalleled change. When she was a girl, the Royal Air Force was flying aircraft of wood and canvas, but she reached a time of fast, supersonic planes that do not even need a pilot—utterly extraordinary levels of change. She remained the same, yet she changed as society changed.

It is not just that the Queen had always been here, true though that is; it is not just that she was a constant, but that she was a unifying constant. We will all have different memories, but what is gone is not lost. The memories we have of her remain, and her example can guide us as we weather the storms of today and tomorrow. As we heard in the electrifying speech by His Majesty the King last night, that duty will continue. Although our voices are choked with emotion, we can all rally with the timeless cry: God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Paul Girvan – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Paul Girvan, the DUP MP for South Antrim, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

It is an honour and a privilege to take part in the debate paying tribute to our greatest Queen. Many of us in the Chamber probably knew no other monarch. A great debt of gratitude is owed to the royal family and to the Queen for the service she gave not only to this nation but to the Commonwealth, and the duty that she performed in that.

I did get to meet the Queen. As has been said, everyone seems to have known her. I think a statistic came out in recent days stating that 31% of the population of the United Kingdom had either met or been introduced to the Queen. That is a tremendous number of people in a population the size of the United Kingdom’s.

I met King Charles III when he was Prince Charles. When introducing a group of people to him, I made the mistake of putting my hand around his shoulder, as I tend to do, and I was threatened with being thrown into the Tower! When I was asked at a Hillsborough garden party to introduce a group of 10 people to Her Majesty, I remembered that I had committed that crime, and I made sure not to put my arm around her.

It is with fondness that I remember the Queen. Everyone has mentioned how she had this bright, vibrant way, but some in our community could not tolerate her. She came to Northern Ireland to open the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, on 4 July 1966. A gentleman there decided that he would throw a brick from a building on to the Queen’s car, and he was arrested by police officer Sergeant John McIver, who has since died. That man had hatred for our monarch in him, but she showed grace and continued in her duties for that day as though nothing had happened. That says far more about the Queen.

I say thank you to the Queen and to her family for what they have done. God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Wendy Morton – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Wendy Morton, the Conservative MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me as Chief Whip to speak this afternoon. This is an opportunity rarely afforded to members of the Whips Office, who normally keep quiet, but this is such an important occasion. I want to recognise the special and unique relationship that the Whips Office had with Her late Majesty’s household, through the positions that some Whips hold, and to pay tribute to Her late Majesty on behalf of all my Aldridge-Brownhills constituents.

We all have personal stories and memories. I never actually met the Queen, but I often saw her at a distance. I reflect on how, during the silver jubilee in 1977—I was a little bit younger than I am now—I cut the pictures out of my mum’s magazines and the newspapers to create a scrapbook. So many of us did that in the days before social media—I see hon. Members nodding. I still have that scrapbook somewhere at home; when I get back, I want to go and find it. I have so many memories of that jubilee and how the village came together as a community. Everybody was a part of it.

I reflect on the more recent platinum jubilee celebrations across my constituency and the many community events—the tea parties and street parties—that took place, but most of all I remember the tremendous community spirit, which is a hallmark of Aldridge-Brownhills and a real testament to the huge amount of love and respect that so many had for Her late Majesty. She not only really understood people, communities and the nation, but had a unique way of bringing our country together.

In speaking on behalf of my constituency, we remember and recognise above all Her late Majesty’s service and duty to all across our nation, the Commonwealth and, indeed, the world. She was truly remarkable. For many of us, she was and will remain an inspiration. As we come together as a nation to mourn the loss of Her late Majesty and say farewell, I do so while pledging my total commitment and support to King Charles III. God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Taiwo Owatemi – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Taiwo Owatemi, the Labour MP for Coventry North West, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

I rise today to pay tribute to a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and our longest serving monarch. I extend my sincere condolences and those of everyone in my city of Coventry to His Majesty the King and all the royal family.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth II was one of intense social and economic transformation, and yet she remained the firm cornerstone of our collective lives. People all over the globe were reassured by the Queen, as a force of constancy and dependability when all around them was ever changing.

Coventry has been blessed with many visits by the Queen over the years. In 1956, just four years into her reign, the Queen visited the ruins of the first St Michael’s cathedral in Coventry, and laid the foundation stone for the new cathedral next door. After years of relentless bombing throughout the second world war—bombing that destroyed so much of the city, devastated thousands of homes, hospitals and schools, and took countless lives—the city was beset by grief and a deep sense of loss, as it is today. However, a visit from Her Majesty the Queen breathed new life into our community. The impact that she had on our city was certainly significant—in the city of peace and reconciliation, her presence gave people hope for the future, despite the tragedies of the past.

In 1994 the Queen visited the then Jaguar factory at Browns Lane in my constituency. It was a visit that my constituents valued and fondly remember. This year, during the various platinum jubilee celebrations that I attended across my constituency, many shared stories about their love and adoration of the Queen. To many in Coventry, she was a symbol of optimism, the new world and the future. That is certainly how our city will remember her.

My own prayers are with the members of the royal family during this difficult time. The Queen was a spiritual leader for so many Christians and a moral guide for anyone in public life. In churches and places of worship in Coventry and across the country, we will be taking this time to reflect her values and her exceptional life. Today, we mourn our beloved Queen, and we are grateful beyond measure for everything that she gave us. May her soul rest in peace. God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Jack Lopresti – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Jack Lopresti, the Conservative MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

Sadly, I never met the Queen. It was something I had always hoped to do. However, as for most people in our country and the Commonwealth, she was always a positive presence in my life.

We remember that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was not only our Head of State and the mother of our nation, but had the same responsibilities and duties for the peoples of our dependent sovereign territories—faraway places such as the Falkland Islands—and for the Governments and peoples of the Commonwealth nations around the world. That was brought home to me in an amazing way when I was chairman of the all-party group on Gibraltar.

Gibraltar National Day is today, 10 September, when Gibraltar celebrates its unique identity and its Britishness. Normally, there is a huge rally in Casemates Square, which is right in the middle of Gibraltar. It is a fantastic occasion, when the whole place is festooned with Union flags and the red and white of the Gibraltar flag. Today, the celebrations have been postponed until next year, and the proclamation of King Charles III was shown on the screens in Casemates Square. Fabian Picardo, the Chief Minister, spoke yesterday of a “cloud of sorrow” over the Rock. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment had a 96-gun salute.

In happier times, in the diamond jubilee year of 2012, the National Day rally had a huge picture of the Queen, and every platform speaker expressed thanks and appreciation for Her Majesty’s service and spoke of their pride in their Britishness and in their Queen, referring to the fact that she had visited Gibraltar. On the platform that day, Fabian used a phrase that I had not heard before but that encapsulates how the Queen was a great unifier of many different peoples and nations. He said that the people of Gibraltar, other sovereign territories and the Commonwealth are all part of the “great British family”—even more so in Gibraltar, a small piece of rock, with a real melting pot of different religions and cultures, within physical sight of the north African coast. Everyone was united on that day, with an outpouring of love, pride and appreciation for our monarch. It reminded me of that old Latin quote, “civis romanus sum”—“I am a Roman citizen”—which one could be, from Africa to northern Britannia, regardless of one’s place of birth or religion.

Yesterday evening, I rushed back to my constituency to attend a service at St Peter’s church in Filton. The congregation was told by the Rev. Lizzie Gregory that it was not a service of commemoration—that will come—but a time for the community to come together, support one other, grieve together and give thanks. It was a wonderful service and it was great to see so many people there. Most had come on foot from nearby. I could sense the pride, depth of emotion and the community supporting one another.

I do not normally quote French Heads of State, unless they were born in Corsica, but President Macron’s comments on the passing of the Queen sum up how we and the rest of the world saw her:

“To you, she was your Queen. To us, she was The Queen. She will be with all of us forever.”

September 11, 2022