At Derbyshire County Council on Wednesday tributes were paid to the Queen. Here, for the record, is mine:
Many speeches and tributes have been made, but it is nonetheless an honour and a privilege to rise in this chamber and add my voice and that of the Liberal Democrats to the sad occasion that is the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
Rarely have we seen and unlikely will we see again such clarity of duty - such a continuing reference point for a people, for the county, for the commonwealth and for her own sense of purpose. Service - truly a lifetime of service - what Princess Anne described as a almost devotional work ethic 24/7, all 12 months, each one of the 52 weeks of every year.
The commitment and the cool headed clarity of that statement at 21 “my whole life, whether it be long or short...” will stand without compare for years evermore.
We have truly seen the second Elizabethan Age. A time of change, lives lived at speed, great depths of pain with war and conflicts with great social change and massive achievements of humankind: sailing round the world single handed, ascending everest, reaching the moon, the creation of the internet and of course signing into law the right of same sex couples to marry each other. Throughout these the Queen has been constant - with Prince Philip as her truest companion and stay.
Closing the pages of the Empire, the Queen unlocked the power of the Commonwealth - we called her influence soft power - but she was anything but soft. Determined and steadfast - we could have had no finer head of state. As the winds of change swept across the world she sat with Nehru to Nkrumah, Kenyatta to Kibaki, Thabo Mbeki to Nelson Mandela, Presidents and Popes, and world leaders too many to count.
Let us recall the work she conducted on our behalf: a British Head of State in China, Russia, the Vatican, across Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean, Canada, New Zealand, America, and even after the war of independence, a civil war and decades of troubles in the Republic of Ireland.
Born in the years after World War One, shaped in the grim reality of World War Two and resolute in her duty and effective in her role for seven decades. It is truly remarkable.
She ascended as a woman in a man’s world - overseen by the towering stern focus of Queen Mary, formerly of Teck. Queen Mary’s first engagement was to Prince Albert Victor who died aged just 28 in the influenza epidemic of 1892, but then she married his brother who became George V. Lillibet was further guided and chided by her mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, The Queen Mother, as they were thrust forwards into succession with the Abdication. And upon accession with the early death of her father her only sister Margaret there throughout everything. And so today we see her only daughter Anne sustaining those matriarchal qualities of duty, of dignity, of purpose - escorting her mother’s coffin even today. Let us recall the contribution of these Royal women in supporting our Queen Elizabeth II.
A woman in a man’s world yet we have in fact lived in her world. She was the most esteemed woman, respected and loved across the nations - a world she knew and had seen better than any other. I think it fair to say that those who write in the future can speak openly and with the widespread acclaim of the people of this county of Queen Elizabeth the Great.
In one of her broadcasts Her Majesty said “Not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love” let her example inspire us and others to hear that message.
On behalf of the Liberal Democrats in this chamber and across Derbyshre I offer our condolences to his Majesty the King, to the Royal Family and affirm our allegiance to both.
God save the King.
