Tributes to Sir Tony Lloyd

Gregory Campbell Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

I wish to pass on my sincere condolences and sympathies to the family of Tony on his passing.

I got to know Tony Lloyd just after his return to the House in 2017, and then when he was appointed as the Labour party’s Northern Ireland spokesperson. A very senior member of the Labour party had the ultimate responsibility when coming to Northern Ireland to meet with the innocent victims of terrorism. Despite my best efforts to get that person to meet them, Tony came to me and said, “I will meet them, Gregory.” I said, “Thank you very much, Tony.”

I arranged a meeting, which was the first time I had been in close proximity to Tony in a meeting with a small group of people, as opposed to in the Chamber. Initially, I felt deeply touched by his empathy, how he listened to the trauma of many people who had suffered at the hands of terror, and how he very calmly and patiently responded to each and every person. I deeply appreciated that, but what struck me even more was that after he finished his term as Labour Front-Bench spokesperson for Northern Ireland and he no longer had that responsibility, one day he sat behind me in the Chamber, tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Gregory, I would like to meet those people again.” He did not have to, he did not need to, but he did. Again, he showed and demonstrated his empathy.

In preparation for these few words, this morning I was reminded of how we should be reminded of all our mortality at this occasion. As the old book says:

“What does God require of us? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.”