The statement made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Secretary of State for Transport, on 9 October 2022.
I have ensured that the Rail Delivery Group has issued new guidance to confirm free travel for military and veterans for Remembrance Day.
To travel, just present your MoD ID card or evidence that you are a veteran, such as Veterans Railcard, to railway staff.
The comments made by Grant Shapps, the Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield, on Twitter on 9 October 2022.
Great appointment. No one is more experienced and knowledgeable than Greg Hands on Trade. A welcome addition back to Liz Truss Government.
The statement made by Oleksiy Kuleba, the Governor of Kyiv, on 10 October 2022.
The air attack continues, I ask everyone to remain calm and stay in shelters. Air defence works in the region. There is information about downed objects. I emphasise that the air alert is still ongoing. Don’t ignore it and stay in cover. Do not photograph or film landing sites or damaged infrastructure. People’s lives depend on it. Let’s hold on.
The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 10 October 2022.
They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth. Destroy our people who are sleeping at home in Zaporizhzhia. Kill people who go to work in Dnipro and Kyiv. The air alarm does not subside throughout Ukraine. There are missiles hitting. Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded. Please do not leave shelters. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Let’s hold on and be strong.
The tribute made by John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney, in the House of Lords on 10 September 2022.
My Lords, I am delighted to join in these tributes to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
I am afraid that my recollections will age me. Shortly after the Second World War, I served in a guard of honour for a visit by the then Princess Elizabeth to Armagh in old Ireland. I then recall the death of King George VI and Her Majesty’s immediate return from Kenya to the United Kingdom. I then recall the wonderful Coronation service in Westminster Abbey, when I saw television for the first time in my life, albeit in black and white.
At the beginning of this century, I had lunch with Her Majesty after the Maundy Thursday service in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh. As one living near the border between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, I am keen to develop respect within the island of Ireland and, especially, to encourage co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 2011 visit to Dublin has been mentioned. It was very much a healing event in the island of Ireland, but the subject does not end there. I was especially impressed by the way she spoke some words in Irish—perhaps using more words than many members of the IRA can use. Likewise, as has been mentioned, I was impressed by her visiting the cemetery in which there are the bodies of some dead republican terrorists. One year later, I recall Her Majesty’s visit to shake hands with a former leader of the IRA in Northern Ireland, then acting as Deputy First Minister at Stormont. When she met Martin McGuinness, he said, “Your Majesty, how are you?”, to which she replied, “I am still alive.”
I must remind your Lordships that there remains unfinished work on the island of Ireland. There is still some extremism in both communities on that island. On Thursday evening, when the death of Her Majesty was announced, there was a football match on in Dublin. The crowd there celebrated her death and then sang an evil song, “Lizzie’s in a box”. That is the reality of life for some people on the island of Ireland. We must not get carried away. However, in contrast, I am glad to say that the Government of the Republic of Ireland have decided to fly the Irish flag at half-mast on all public buildings, so there has been progress on the island.
We all respect the service of Her Majesty to all parts of the United Kingdom and her strong Christian faith, but we now dedicate our loyalty to King Charles III. We trust that he will serve for many years the people of the United Kingdom—in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland—and of the Commonwealth. God save the King.
![PRESS RELEASE : North Korea ballistic missile launch – FCDO statement [October 2022]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/fco-150x150.png)
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 9 October 2022.
A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said:
North Korea’s decision to conduct another ballistic missile test on 8 October is a violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. The UK continues to work closely with our partners to urge North Korea to return to dialogue and take credible steps towards denuclearisation in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.
We call on North Korea to prioritise the well-being of their people instead of the illegal pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
![PRESS RELEASE : Bumper £24 million to boost children’s literacy [October 2022]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/education-150x111.png)
The press release issued by the Department for Education on 9 October 2022.
More primary school pupils will benefit from high quality phonics and expert literacy teaching as part of new funding announced today (Sunday 9 October).
Over £24 million is set to be invested in building children’s literacy skills as the government continues to support pupils’ recovery from the pandemic and work towards the target of 90% of primary children reaching the expected standard in literacy and numeracy.
The announcement marks the conclusion of Dyslexia Awareness Week, with targeted literacy support playing a pivotal role in helping pupils with dyslexia develop all-important reading and writing skills.
The investment is part of the Government’s commitment to make sure every young person leaves school with a strong grasp of literacy and maths, and sits alongside further targeted support such as the National Tutoring Programme.
Education Secretary Kit Malthouse said:
If any child leaves schools without the ability to read and write properly, we have failed them.
It is imperative that we support schools and pupils following the disruption of the pandemic. This funding will help us do that, but also help to instil a love of reading in young people that can last throughout their education and beyond.
Rachel Davis, Headteacher and Strategic Lead, Little Sutton English Hub said:
The funding available to schools to implement validated phonics programmes has been wide reaching, particularly with the introduction of the Accelerator Fund programme last year.
Our team of highly trained Literacy Specialists have worked with schools to deepen their understanding of the impact of phonics teaching.
Crucially, our work in the English Hubs Programmes has given staff the ability to identify specific barriers to individual pupils’ learning and implement precise, swift intervention. This has helped children who find reading more difficult to achieve success. It has also greatly supported schools in their Covid Recovery programme.
The funding will support the continuation and growth of the English Hubs Programme, enabling even more schools to embed high quality phonics teaching and benefit from the intensive support and access to literacy specialists.
The programmes will help build children’s confidence and ability to read and write, including for those with dyslexia, and provide a solid foundation for children to build upon so they can develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both information and for fun.
Building on the Accelerator Fund – which helps schools access specialist programmes of support for pupils and has so far seen £4 million distributed to over 450 schools – this funding will boost existing programmes in schools to support pupils’ learning to read.
Phonics approaches, when embedded in a rich literacy environment, are amongst the most effective methods of teaching children to read, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, according to evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).
This sits alongside the Government’s commitment to support schools with early identification of need and intervention for children who require extra support, as clearly outlined in the Schools White Paper, SEND Review and Alternative Provision Green Paper.
The tribute made by Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs, in the House of Lords on 10 September 2022.
My Lords, it is a privilege to take part in this debate and I shall try to be brief: I have deleted things I was going to say that are already covered in the Hansard of either House, noble Lords will be relieved to know.
I shall start with Northern Ireland. There was, at the time I served there, a tradition that when a member of the Royal Family visited Northern Ireland, they should be accompanied by a Minister. Fast forward to 1997, when I was appointed as one of the Northern Ireland Office Ministers. We were having a ministerial meeting and we discovered that the first Northern Ireland Questions in the Commons after the election clashed with a Hillsborough garden party. There was some consternation until my boss, Mo Mowlam, pointed to me and said, “You’ll have to deal with it.” I was briefed for at least two hours the evening before on how I should deal with the garden party—in particular, how I should look after and escort the Queen. It was an interesting occasion.
At lunch, I sat on the Queen’s right and she was brilliant in her analysis of Northern Ireland politics and Northern Ireland politicians: I wish I had kept a record—though I am also glad I did not. It was like a seminar from her; she was on top of the issues, she had good judgments, which I cannot, of course, quote, and it was a total insight. I was utterly captivated. After lunch, I took her around the gardens, introducing her to people I did not know, which is an art form in itself. I had a filing cabinet in each pocket and I managed, but sometimes the people to whom I was introducing the Queen were in the wrong order. However, she handled it with absolute professionalism, so that when I was a bit flustered, she was not flustered. It was an absolutely remarkable occasion.
The week before that, the Queen wanted to meet the new junior Ministers in the 1997 Government, so we all went to Buckingham Palace. We were chatting to the Queen and at one point the conversation turned to the procedures for the Queen’s Speech. The Queen asked, referring to Members of the Commons, how they actually listen to the Queen’s Speech, to which the reply was that some come to the Bar of the House and others watch on television. Then I said something that perhaps I should not have said, but my tact disappeared. I said to the Queen, “Your Majesty, have you ever delivered a Queen’s Speech you didn’t agree with?” There was a deathly silence—my ministerial colleagues thought I was going to be out—and the Queen looked at me and said, “Yes, it has happened”, but I did not ask her to give me examples of the occasions on which it had happened.
More recently, Prince Charles, as he then was, and his wife came to the Irish centre in Hammersmith. It was a very jolly occasion, several months ago. There was music, dancing and so on, and the royal couple entered totally into the spirit of it. Then, of course, yesterday evening, we heard his brilliant speech—his brilliant and emotional tribute to his mother—and I thought that a man who can go from the previous occasion to that really can encompass the whole range of responsibilities that now befall him.
I turn very briefly to the visit to Ireland by the Queen in 2011, I think. I was not there, but it was an absolutely brilliant occasion and it made a difference for the better in the relationship between this country and Ireland. She did not put a foot wrong: she wore a green dress, spoke Gaelic and paid tribute to the Irish dead from 1916 and 1921. It was absolutely handled brilliantly.
I have just one other little anecdote. Some years ago, the Queen went to Bratislava where there was a commemoration of two events: the end of the Iron Curtain—after all, Bratislava was and is on the border with Austria—and the Kindertransport. The British embassy invited some of us who came to Britain on Kindertransport to go there. Schoolchildren were doing a project on the occasion and the Queen was there. We were lined up—bear in mind that I had already met the Queen several times in Northern Ireland—and she came down the line of Kindertransport people, came to me and said, “I didn’t know this about you.” It was quite disarming and very sweet. I was really impressed again, by her and the way she handled things.
Finally, I am a member of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. We have a WhatsApp group. I am getting a stream of tributes to the Queen from parliamentarians from various countries. They are very moving. Quite a lot are in French, which I will not read out, but I will read out one from a politician from one of the OSCE countries:
“The death of Queen Elizabeth has reached the whole world. She was appreciated, admired and respected for her loyalty, humility and sense of duty. No nation could have wished for a better monarch. Her reign left her mark in modern history.”
The tribute made by Brian Paddick, Baron Paddick, in the House of Lords on 10 September 2022.
My Lords, I have been trying to make sense of all this, as someone who never met Her late Majesty. My mother was seven years older than Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, but when I lost my own personal life anchor, when my mother died, I felt that I still had Her Majesty the Queen.
Her late Majesty was the safest of a safe pair of hands. She was the most reliable of the people upon whom we relied; she was the greatest example of duty and dedication. I was concerned in recent years that the Queen could not possibly continue to the very end without having to abdicate as old age took its toll, yet she served to the very end—something that I feel sure she would have been very happy to achieve. Our Lord Jesus Christ is sometimes described as the servant king. Her late Majesty was surely the servant Queen. May she rest in peace.
The work of this House has been disrupted, normal life is interrupted, and all this feels very destabilising—but we have a new monarch and a new life anchor. If Liz Truss was anxious about having a difficult act to follow, spare a thought for His Royal Highness King Charles III. Our thoughts are with His Majesty and other members of the Royal Family at this time of loss and grief. In his address to the nation yesterday, His Majesty the King showed every sign that he can and will be our new source of stability during these turbulent times. Long may he reign.
What would my mother have said? Being of the same generation, I can hear Her late Majesty saying the same: “All very unfortunate, but you’ll just have to get on with it”. And we will, with God’s help, and the leadership of our King.
The tribute made by Charles Wellesley, 9th Duke of Wellington, in the House of Lords on 10 September 2022.
My Lords, I apologise for rising out of order—forgive me—and I also apologise for not being here yesterday, but I have read in Hansard so many moving speeches, and have heard so many today. As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, said yesterday, it is difficult to know what to add. I simply want to pay my own tribute to a remarkable lady who I have known since I was quite young. I am old enough to remember watching from a balcony at Apsley House the passage of the Coronation procession.
My family have the honour and legal obligation of presenting a tricoloured flag to the sovereign at Windsor Castle on or before 18 June—Waterloo Day—in every year. It has therefore been my incredible privilege, on eight occasions since the death of my father, to present the flag to Her Majesty. The last time, in June, she was as alert, funny and informed as ever, so it was really a shock to me and my family that she died so suddenly on Thursday. I pay tribute to her incredible kindness, simplicity, humanity and humour, and her interest in everything. I feel so fortunate to have known her.
I was very struck yesterday to receive from the mayor of our local town in southern Spain a letter sending condolences to the Royal Family and the British people, in translation describing the Queen as a lady of global importance, not just for the United Kingdom but for the whole of Europe. This is from a village in the hills in Andalucía; her impact was indeed universal.
Her Majesty would have been so pleased to know that she was to be succeeded by someone with such qualities and interests as our new King. May she rest in peace—and we now say, as so many have, God save the King, and may he also have a long life.