Tributes

Baroness Smith of Basildon Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

My Lords, I associate our group with the comments made by the Government Chief Whip. We particularly send our condolences to the family of Simon Gough.

I am deputising for the Labour Chief Whip—my noble friend Lord McAvoy is in Scotland and is sorry that he cannot be here today. I shall pay tribute, first, to those members of staff who have left us this year and then to some existing staff, as did the Government Chief Whip.

We leave this year with a very different world to that which we came into at the beginning of the year. One of the most depressing and heartbreaking terms I have heard is when we talk about “the new normal”, as if we somehow accept the way things are at the moment. These things are forced on us. They are not the way we want to work and operate but the way we have to, and we look forward to when we are able to be here physically, in person, with colleagues, and work in the normal way—which is, I think, perhaps slightly quicker than the way we operate today. We all recall the days when Zoom was a summer ice lolly and Teams referred to the football teams that we support.

Despite all this, we have been able to continue our work, not in the way we enjoy but in the way we have managed That has been made possible by the extraordinary efforts, the talents, the skills, and the creativity and ingenuity at times, of many of the staff of this House. I do not think there has been a single Member of your Lordships’ House or member of staff who has been unaffected and had to work differently. I will thank those people at the end, but first, I want to pay tribute to those staff who have left us during this year, often after many years of service.

Joanna Gyamfi started work here back in 1998 and left in March this year. Many noble Lords will know her; she was a very popular member of the House of Lords housekeeping team. We remember her cheery early morning greetings as we came in. She worked in a number of different areas of the House of Lords estate, so got to know a number of Peers in the various offices they worked in. The last area in which she carried out her cleaning duties before her retirement was on the Principal Floor, West Front, including my own office. She retired so she could spend more time with her beloved family, and we hope that she is enjoying her retirement.

Another departure this year was Christian Addo-Asiedu from the catering and retail service. Christian was a long-standing porter in the catering team, starting here in January 1999. He was known to the team as “the weatherman”—I hope that was because he had a sunny disposition and personality. He was an outstanding team player and is remembered by his team for his very gentlemanly and kind manner. His friendship and good humour mean he is greatly missed by those he worked with.