Tunisia, and European Council

Andrew Percy Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The case to which the hon. Gentleman has referred is absolutely heartbreaking. All of us have read about it in the newspapers, and we all know how the family and community will be affected, as he said, for many years to come.

As for helping the families, I think that the first thing to do is ensure that each of them has a family liaison officer from one of the police forces. Those liaison officers are now being put in place. They are experts—they are extremely good at the work that they do—and they should be the point of contact that ensures that families are given all the information, help, advice and support that they need.

The next step, as the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) said, is to think about how we are going to mark and commemorate what has happened. That should be done in consultation with the families, so we should not rush that decision, but I think it is right that this Friday we have a national minute’s silence.

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

The thoughts of my constituents are with all the victims, especially the three from our local area. I spent yesterday afternoon with the family of Bruce Wilkinson, including his wife Rita, who survived the attack. They thank everybody who has assisted them—consular staff, their travel company, and my hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew). They want Bruce to be remembered for his wit and compassion, and for his love of his family. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that every effort will be made to get the bodies of victims home as quickly as possible, so Bruce and the other victims can be given the dignity in burial they were denied in death?

[The Prime Minister]

I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. As well as tales of great tragedy and sadness, there have been stories of extraordinary heroism and bravery, as we would expect from British citizens confronted with such an event. On bringing people home, what we have said, and what I have said today, is that we are prepared to use RAF planes, chiefly C-17s and C-130s, to bring home the British dead if that is what families want. We are putting the arrangements in place now. It has taken time to identify all the victims and that identification has to be complete before a victim can be brought home, but we will work as hard as we can to make sure this happens as soon as possible.