Colum Eastwood pays tribute to ‘great friend’ and ‘champion of the underdog’ Tony Lloyd - video Dailymotion

Derry Journal

Colum Eastwood pays tribute to ‘great friend’ and ‘champion of the underdog’ Tony Lloyd

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00:00 much about the many roles that Tony played in his time in politics, whether

00:04 the many roles in this house and in the Labour Party as Police and Crime

00:09 Commissioner, as Interim Mayor of Manchester. Tony Lloyd was a champion of

00:14 the underdog, someone we could all learn from and someone who I absolutely looked

00:19 up to. He was a great friend of mine from his time as Shadow Secretary of State

00:23 for Northern Ireland and as a newbie in this place in 2019. He helped me navigate

00:27 the corridors and the strange rules that govern this place. The Chair of the

00:33 PLP talked about his tolerance and restraint. Well I can tell you Mr.

00:39 Speaker, as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, during a very

00:42 difficult period in our politics we put those qualities to the test many, many

00:48 times. In the many meetings that I was in with Tony and other political parties

00:52 in Northern Ireland there wasn't much tolerance or restraint on display but he

00:56 was there to calm us all down. Of course I think it's important Mr. Speaker for me

01:01 to say also Tony's interest in Ireland didn't just start when he became a

01:06 Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. It was a decades-long pursuit of

01:10 truth, justice and peace for the people of our island. The people, his friends in

01:17 Ireland, will never forget him as he never forgot us. I was delighted to host

01:22 him in Derrien, a local hostelry for a few pints a few months ago where we had

01:26 a great crack and told great stories and to see him again in the Strangers for a

01:31 pint just before Christmas. Sometimes Mr. Speaker we actually met without having

01:34 pints. But one of the things that stood out to me in those occasions and the

01:40 many occasions I saw him since he got sick, we all knew he wasn't well but he

01:44 wore it so lightly and as others have said he didn't talk about himself for his

01:47 own illness, he talked about you and asked you questions about how things

01:51 were going. And if we think about some of the the contributions he made in this

01:57 place at the end of his career, he was talking about arms exports to

02:02 Israel, he was talking about Rwanda, he was talking about and advocating on

02:07 behalf of private tenants who were not being treated properly, an advocate for

02:13 the voiceless to the very very end. I want to extend our sympathy and love to

02:18 Tony's family, friends and all who loved him from the people who I represent on

02:24 our island. Arís de go raibh an bhaith. May he rest in peace.

02:31 I wish to pass on my sincere condolences and sympathies to the family of Tony on

02:36 his passing. I got to know Tony Lloyd just after his return Mr. Speaker to the

02:42 house here in 2017 and then when he was appointed Northern Ireland's

02:47 spokesperson for the Labour Party and a very senior member of the Labour Party

02:53 whose ultimate responsibility it was when that person was coming to Northern

02:57 Ireland was to meet with the innocent victims of terrorism and despite my best

03:04 efforts to get that person to meet them, Tony came to me and said I will meet

03:10 them Gregory and I said thank you very much Tony. I arranged a meeting and it

03:16 was the first time I had been in a close proximity to Tony in a meeting where

03:21 there was a small group of people as opposed to the chamber and initially I

03:27 felt deeply touched by his empathy and how he listened to the trauma of many

03:34 people who'd suffered at the hands of terror and how he very calmly and

03:39 patiently responded to each and every person and I deeply appreciated that but

03:45 what struck me even more Mr. Speaker was after he finished his term as Labour

03:52 frontbench spokesperson on Northern Ireland and he no longer had that

03:56 responsibility he sat behind me here in the chamber, tapped me on the shoulder

04:03 one day and said Gregory I would like to meet those people again. He didn't have

04:09 to, he didn't need to, but he did and that and again he showed and demonstrated

04:17 his empathy and Mr. Speaker I was reminded this morning in preparation for

04:22 these few words that all of our mortality is something that at this

04:27 occasion we should be reminded of and as the old book says what does God require

04:33 of us? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. Thank you.

Colum Eastwood pays tribute to ‘great friend’ and ‘champion of the underdog’ Tony Lloyd

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