Category: Parliament

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
Gill Furniss – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Gill Furniss, the Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

I rise to pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of my constituents in Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough. For people across Sheffield, Her Majesty was a great source of comfort and stability across her 70-year reign. She was our Queen; she belonged to us. We had good times and we had bad times, but all the time she held a special place in all our hearts.

I want to talk briefly about one occasion when the Queen’s importance to my city really shone through. In 2001, Sheffield had the great honour of welcoming Her Majesty as she opened the fabulous brand-new Millennium Gallery. It is impossible to overstate what this meant to the city. Never before or since have I seen so many people; it seemed like there were thousands in the streets of Sheffield just trying to catch a glimpse of their beloved Queen. Their joy, enthusiasm and anticipation were humbling.

Having been a council lead for arts and culture for just a few weeks, I had the privilege of meeting Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh at the door of the gallery, and I managed to curtsy without falling flat on my face—this was a great relief. She was incredibly generous with her time, ensuring that she spoke to as many people as possible. Her dignity, compassion and sense of humour shone through throughout the entire day.

That evening we welcomed Her Majesty to a very fancy dinner hosted by the then Lord Mayor. As Members can imagine, this was a carefully orchestrated occasion, which took many months of detailed planning. However, on the day, we learned that Her Majesty’s favourite drink was none other than Dubonnet and lemonade. Not having any to hand, we quickly sped to the Lord Mayor’s office to go through the drinks cabinet to see whether there was any there. I have to report that there was not. So someone was sent out to scour the streets of Sheffield, because there was no way Sheffield was going to be known as the one city that could not provide the Queen with her favourite tipple. I am pleased to say that we were able to find it just in time before the dinner. I will always have fond memories of that day—not least as it was one of only two occasions on which I have worn a hat. It brought such joy to Sheffield, bringing together so many people from across the city.

Her Majesty represented a unifying figure above the divides of politics, and everybody looked to her for comfort in good times and solace in bad. Her sense of duty was truly felt by all. I and all my constituents in Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough express our deepest sympathies and condolences to the royal family. We share in their grief and sorrow and will miss her greatly. May she rest in peace, and may God save the King.

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

The tribute made by Paul Maynard, the Conservative MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

It is my sorrowful task to express the grief and sadness of the people of Blackpool North and Cleveleys at the loss of Her late Majesty. We also send our best wishes to our new King Charles III. As part of the red rose county, we have lost not just our monarch but our Duke of Lancaster.

I am one of those who never had the chance to meet Her Majesty, like the vast majority of my constituents, but I know the affection in which we all held her. Every flag displayed on every house, every strip of bunting hung up in every street, every cupcake consumed at every event in the summer for the platinum jubilee demonstrated the affection in which she was held across the Fylde coast. Now Blackpool has even dimmed its famous illuminations out of respect for her passing.

In Blackpool, we remember fondly the last time the Queen came to our town, in 2009, to see the royal variety performance. I have often wondered what a woman in her early 80s made of the pop sensations of 2009, as she sat there probably wishing that it would all be over soon and she could go to bed. One lesson I took from that is that, for pop stars and indeed politicians, fame is transitory, but the renown of a monarch such as her will echo down the ages.

For seven decades, the Queen has been inextricably intertwined with our nationhood, our sense of identity and who we are as a nation. She has shared our highs and our lows, our triumphs and our disasters, and we have shared hers—the high times, the good times, the jubilees and the celebrations, but also the lows. Who will ever forget the sight of her sitting alone in St George’s Chapel in Windsor at the funeral of her late husband?

My right hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green) used the word “uncertainty” as we began our tributes today, and I feel that sense of uncertainty myself—I feel somewhat bereft. We face difficult, uncertain times, but we look to the Queen’s example of duty, sacrifice, regard for others and steadfastness. Whatever the coming years and months may hold, we will hold true to her memory and the example she set. May she rest in peace. God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Dave Doogan – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Dave Doogan, the SNP MP for Angus, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

I rise to speak to the memory of Her late Majesty the Queen on behalf of my many Angus constituents who held her close in their affections. The Queen was a very popular figure across much of Scotland and especially in Angus. That fondness was a consequence of her personal characteristics, such as her demeanour, warmth and character, much more than any sort of institutional devotion.

The Queen’s length of service over seven decades afforded people a sense of continuity and stability in a world that changed immeasurably over her reign. Her great appreciation for Scotland and Angus is a source of great pride for many Scots. Her mother was a child of Angus, being born in Glamis, and Her Majesty visited Angus multiple times. She was in Kirriemuir in 1969 and returned in 2004, when she also visited Arbroath and Forfar at the same time. It is well understood that she was happiest at Balmoral in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, and her very public fondness for her highland home was naturally also a source of pride in Scotland. The astonishing landscape in which Balmoral is set is adjacent to our iconic Angus glens, so I know keenly why the Queen valued her time in this part of Scotland so much. I believe it must have been a great comfort to her to be there in her final hours with her family around her.

Unlike many hon. Members, I did not get to meet the late Queen, but as a four-year-old in Perth, I can still remember the excitement in the streets as we queued and waited for the still quite young Queen to pass as part of her silver jubilee celebrations in 1977. Again in Perth in 2012, as a local councillor, I witnessed her incredible professionalism, charm and patience as she presented the keys to the city and restored Perth to city status as part of her diamond jubilee celebrations.

I wish to extend my condolences to the millions of people grieving at the death of Her late Majesty, but death, especially the death of a mother, bears hardest on the family, no matter who she is, so I convey my sympathies to all her family. The Queen was also a defender of her faith. She took that role very seriously and, as such, demonstrated her outstanding credentials as a committed Christian. When I pray for the repose of her soul, I have great confidence that she will now be in the arms of God. May she rest in peace.

September 11, 2022
Matt Warman – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Matt Warman, the Conservative MP for Boston and Skegness, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

In 2012, prior to the diamond jubilee, the Queen hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace for national newspaper editors, the usual great and the good, and, to my surprise, technology editors as well. That induced the unique, gut-wrenching dual anxiety of having to meet Her Majesty, and having to do so with my boss. Thankfully, the Duke of Edinburgh said that technologists, such as myself, were there because people like us knew “what was going on”. That put me at ease, at least for the seconds before I realised he had just said explicitly something that I had only ever optimistically inferred from working with my bosses.

Perhaps surprisingly, the digital jubilee reception was not a novel concept. The Queen understood that she had to be seen to be believed. We knew her first in the ’40s and ’50s via black and white photos, the wireless and that scratchily televised coronation, which was so many people’s first experience of television. By the 2020s, it was ultra-high definition video, and in the lockdown of 2020 it was Zoom. She moved with the times, and the times moved with her. She was present in our lives in a way that moved even places like Boston and Skegness, which she never visited, to hold street parties in her honour, and that now moves many there to tears.

I met His Majesty King Charles at a reception for Roberts Radio, which is a long-standing warrant holder.

He, too, knows that technology can make his family’s warmth and service palpable around the world. He used the opportunity to do an impression from “The Goon Show”, which only time sadly precludes me from recreating in the House. With TV cameras in the Accession Council, we have already seen more of what it is to be a monarch than we could ever have done previously, and long may that continue. It is familiarity and closeness that fosters hope and togetherness with our sovereign.

I said that we first saw Her Majesty in black and white, and later on Zoom. I should, of course, have said that we are unlikely to see such a lengthy reign again, with its diligence, humility and uplifting love. Thanks to the times in which she lived, we are blessed to have felt uniquely close to so much of it. That makes her absence feel so personal and acute. Grief is the price we pay for love. God save the King.

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

The tribute made by Simon Lightwood, the Labour MP for Wakefield, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

It has been an honour and a privilege to listen to the tributes and anecdotes from Members across the House. I pay tribute, both personally and on behalf of the people of Wakefield, to the service of our remarkable Queen. Her devotion and sacrifice to this nation over her 96 years is an inspiration and guiding light to us all, however long we have been in public life.

It is an immense sorrow, but one that gives me deep personal pride, that I was one of the last Members of Parliament to take an oath of allegiance to Her late Majesty the Queen when I took my seat in June. The Queen visited Wakefield several times. I believe the first time was as Princess Elizabeth in 1945, when she visited Pinderfields Hospital. She returned as Queen on her silver jubilee tour in 1977, and again in 1992 to officially open Wakefield Hospice.

Her efforts to extend the hand of the monarchy to all her subjects across the United Kingdom led to the decision to take the traditional Maundy service out of London, choosing a different part of the country each year. So it was that in 2005, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Wakefield Cathedral to distribute the Maundy money, with people from all over the district lining the streets, desperate to catch a glimpse of her. I was fortunate to be there myself and I remember her shining through the crowds, in her inimitable style, wearing brilliant blue. But it was her unforgettable smile and the characteristic twinkle in her eyes that we will remember most.

She was loved by so many in Wakefield and in our nation for her warmth, her dedication and her unshakeable sense of duty. Over her 70 years on the throne, she reigned over huge social, cultural and political change across the United Kingdom, and indeed the world, but through all that she was a constant steadying presence. She met every moment, crisis and problem with her reassuring presence and calming words, always reflecting the mood of the nation. Her Majesty was, and will always be, our nation’s north star. The example that she set for us all will continue to shine bright in our memories, to guide us and to inspire us towards a better tomorrow.

On behalf of the people of Wakefield, Horbury and Ossett, I thank Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her love and service to our nation, and our thoughts and prayers are with King Charles III and the royal family. God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Gareth Johnson – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Gareth Johnson, the Conservative MP for Dartford, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

I am particularly grateful to be able to contribute to this debate, particularly as I am the Whip on duty. As you know, Madam Deputy Speaker, the Whip comments on every Member’s contribution to a debate, so I look forward to writing about mine.

I am also pleased to contribute to this debate because I want to convey my Dartford constituents’ gratitude for the service given by Her Majesty. Dartford is heartbroken, as we all are. We all dreaded this day, almost believing that it would never happen, but here we are. It seems so odd to be without the Queen, as we all grew up with Her Majesty. My hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Nickie Aiken) spoke about the silver jubilee crown, and I was also given one when I was a young boy. It was absolutely huge, and I thought I was rich beyond my wildest dreams because I had this huge coin in my hand. I confess to being disappointed when I found out, some time later, that it was worth only 25p. Nevertheless, the crown was priceless because the Queen gave everything for us. Her whole life was committed to us and our welfare. She was the perfect monarch. She loved her people, and she was in turn loved by the people. Nobody in this Chamber has or will ever have her approval ratings—nobody.

Much will change—we will never again sing “God Save the Queen” in our lifetime, for example—but we are so incredibly fortunate to have a King with a huge sense of duty and who genuinely cares about his people and his country. He is just as much at home walking around a Welsh farm as a London council estate. While we are deeply saddened, we can be optimistic about the future thanks to the legacy that Her Majesty the Queen left to us. God save the King.

September 11, 2022
Helen Hayes – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Helen Hayes, the Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

I rise to pay tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of my constituents in Dulwich and West Norwood. My sincere condolences go to His Majesty the King, the royal family and all who grieve her loss.

Her late Majesty made a commitment at the age of 21 that she would dedicate her whole life to the service of the British people, and the fulfilment of that promise over more than seven decades is truly extraordinary. Unlike other hon. and right hon. Members, I did not have the privilege of meeting the late Queen personally, but I know that she maintained, as she did with communities across the country, a very strong relationship with our part of south London, most notably with King’s College Hospital.

The late Queen visited King’s College Hospital three times during her reign, first as part of her coronation tour in 1953, just five years after the founding of the NHS. She visited again in 1968 to open the Ruskin wing, and once more in 2003 to open the Golden Jubilee wing, which was a much-needed improvement in facilities at King’s.

The late Queen also visited Brixton as part of her silver jubilee celebrations in 1977. A lovely photograph held by Lambeth archives shows Brixton’s diverse community coming out to welcome her and the Queen smiling and clearly making eye contact with a child in the front row of the crowd.

Most recently, in 2013, the late Queen visited a small but hugely important charity in Brixton. Ebony Horse Club is a riding centre situated in an area with a high level of deprivation. It is brilliant and enables children from all backgrounds to learn to ride, which is a relatively rare experience in any inner-city setting, and to benefit from being around animals and learning equestrian skills. The late Queen’s love of horses is well documented, and I know it was very special to Ebony Horse Club to have her support for its work in making the experiences that delighted her so much—being around horses, caring for them and riding them—available to everyone, irrespective of income or background. The connection continues today, because the Queen Consort is the patron of Ebony Horse Club and recently hosted not only the staff and riders but a number of horses at a reception at Clarence House.

Our country has seen huge changes and great challenges during the 70 years of the late Queen’s reign. It is testament to her character, her humanity and her willingness to reflect and adapt that she was able to be a constant throughout such a long period and through so many changes, especially in her relationship with the Commonwealth. Her late Majesty’s lifetime of service will be remembered with gratitude. May she rest in peace.

September 11, 2022
Daniel Kawczynski – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Daniel Kawczynski, the Conservative MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, in the House of Commons on 10 September 2022.

I rise on behalf of the people of Shrewsbury and the surrounding Shropshire villages to pay tribute to Her Majesty. When I met Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace, she looked at me and immediately started to tease me—to rib me mercilessly—about the difference in height, she being 5 feet 2 inches and me being 6 feet 9 inches. Of course, that immediately broke the ice. I was so nervous at meeting my sovereign for the first time, and it was so good to have that joke at the start of our interaction. Later on in the evening, she was standing at one end of the room and I was at the other end. In front of everybody, she continued teasing me with a gesture about the difference in height.

The most important thing that happened that evening, however, was that the Queen realised that I was the only Polish-born British Member of Parliament. She started to talk to me about her pride in the contribution of Polish fighter pilots during the second world war. She referenced the fact that the Polish 303 squadron shot down more enemy aircraft in the battle of Britain than any other squadron did, and she paid tribute to the extraordinary contribution of Polish mathematicians and cryptographers in helping to break the enigma code at Bletchley, and to the forces that joined the British Eighth Army in north Africa and at Monte Cassino. Of course, my heart melted.

Being the only Polish-born British Member of Parliament and listening to our sovereign outlining her pride in the Polish contribution, and talking about how her father had outlined to her his pride in it, is something that I will always remember. She reigned so successfully because she used emotional intelligence, and emotional intelligence was her driving force. The communist regime in the country of my birth has been consigned to the ash heap of history because it ruled through fear, intimidation and the secret police. It is gone, whereas Her Majesty’s memory is eternal because of the love and kindness that she showed us all.

September 11, 2022