Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026

Lillian Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 10th June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg, and to contribute to this important debate on the return of the Commonwealth games to Glasgow secured by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson).

The Commonwealth games have always been more than a sporting competition. They are a celebration of friendship, community, aspiration and achievement across the Commonwealth family. That is why the decision to bring the games back to Glasgow is such welcome news, not only for our city but for communities across Scotland and the UK. Glasgow has shown the world how to host a major sporting event. In 2014, the city delivered what many still regard as one of the finest Commonwealth games ever staged. The venues were world class, the volunteers were outstanding, the atmosphere was unforgettable and the legacy continues to be felt today.

The return of the games is a vote of confidence in Glasgow. It is a recognition of the city’s experience, its sporting infrastructure and, most importantly, its people. It will bring visitors, investment and international attention, and support jobs, tourism, hospitality and local businesses, but the impact of the games will extend far beyond Glasgow’s city boundaries.

In constituencies such as Kilmarnock and Loudoun, communities have long embraced the values of sporting competition. Young people across east Ayrshire will watch athletes competing for Scotland, the home nations and countries across the Commonwealth. They will see role models who prove that success is not reserved for a privileged few. They will see ordinary people achieving extraordinary things through hard work, determination and dedication. Every sports coach who gives up their evenings, every volunteer who runs a club and every parent who drives a child to training sessions understands the power of sport to change lives. Sport teaches discipline, resilience and teamwork. It teaches young people how to win with humility and lose with dignity.

East Ayrshire has its own proud Commonwealth games story. Through the East Ayrshire talented athletes support programme, hundreds of athletes have been helped to pursue excellence. Over 14 years, more than 700 local athletes have received support, including six special Olympians, two Olympians and two Commonwealth games medallists who have represented their community with distinction. I pay particular tribute to Peter Kirkbride of Kilmarnock. Peter won a silver medal for Scotland in the men’s 94 kg weightlifting competition at the Delhi Commonwealth games in 2010. His achievement remains a source of enormous pride for east Ayrshire, and demonstrates what can be achieved through dedication, perseverance and talent. I also recognise Claire Johnston, who won a bronze medal for Scotland in lawn bowls at the Gold Coast Commonwealth games in 2018. Her success, alongside her team mate Lesley Doig, added another chapter to east Ayrshire’s proud sporting history, and showed that athletes from our communities can compete and succeed on the international stage.

The Commonwealth games have a unique place in our national life because they bring together nations and territories from every corner of the globe in a spirt of friendly competition. They celebrate diversity while emphasising our shared humanity. It is fitting therefore that they remember Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, whose commitment to the Commonwealth was one of the defining features of her remarkable reign. Across seven decades, she championed the values that sit at the heart of the Commonwealth movement: service, unity and mutual respect. Her dedication helped to strengthen the bonds between nations and peoples, and her legacy remains woven into the story of the Commonwealth games themselves. As Glasgow prepares once again to welcome athletes from around the world, it is worth reflecting on how proud Her late Majesty was of Scotland’s achievements in hosting international events and bringing people together through sport.

The return of the games offers us another opportunity to build a lasting legacy. We should use this moment to encourage greater participation in sport, particularly among young people. We should strengthen grassroots clubs, improve access to facilities and ensure that every child, regardless of background, has the opportunity to enjoy the benefits that sport can bring. The true measure of success will not simply be what happens in the stadiums or on the medal table; it will be whether more young people take up sport, more communities feel connected and more future champions emerge from places like Kilmarnock and Loudoun.

The Commonwealth games remind us that talent is everywhere, even if opportunity is not. Our job is to ensure that opportunity reaches every community. The return of the Commonwealth games is good for our economy, good for our communities and good for the next generation. Most of all, it is a chance to inspire young people, not only across East Ayrshire but across the whole of Scotland and the Commonwealth, to believe that, with hard work and determination, they too can achieve greatness.

Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary

Lillian Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)]

Last Friday, I visited Kilmarnock football club to witness the signing of the armed forces covenant next to its award-winning memorial garden. It was both a pleasure and an honour to see the club’s continued commitment to our veterans, and its acknowledgement of those who lost their lives in the service of our country. The timing was perfect, as in this most important of weeks we celebrate the 80th anniversary of victory in Europe—VE Day—and we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defeat Hitler’s Nazis. This is also one of our last opportunities to pay tribute to living second world war veterans who served and sacrificed to defend our way of life.

The Scottish contribution to the events leading up to VE Day on 8 May 1945 was truly significant, encompassing military service, industrial output and civilian support. Scotland, although small in size, played a disproportionately large role in Britain’s war effort during world war two. The war generation are true heroes, and the backbone on which this country was built.

I want to tell the House more about the contribution that Kilmarnock football club made to the war effort. Its ground, Rugby Park, was requisitioned by the Government on 4 June 1940, and a few days later the troops marched in and took over the ground to be used as an oil and fuel depot. In July that year, the club gave an interest-free loan to the British Government of £1,000 for the war effort. It may not sound significant today, but let me put it into context: 80 years ago, it would have taken an average worker five years to earn that amount. During my visit, it was wonderful to see the original documentation from the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Kingsley Wood, which remains a treasured piece of the club’s history.

At this time when every part of our nation united—Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, pulling together in a time of need—Kilmarnock football club was no exception, and made its own contribution. Many players stepped up and did their duty, in the name of service to our nation. Sadly, eight of them paid the ultimate price and never returned home. I want to remember them, not only in this debate but always. May we never forget their sacrifice. When the war ended the club reclaimed its ground, and its generous loan was repaid in full, albeit interest-free. After the events of wartime, and with the efforts of Italian and German prisoners of war, Rugby Park was rebuilt, with football returning in April 1945. VE Day was as much a moment of pride and relief for Kilmarnock as for any part of the UK, marking the culmination of years of sacrifice and determination.

The lessons of the second world war and the global security challenges we face today reinforce the need to face our adversaries together, through the strength of our alliances such as NATO. Learning the lessons of history is a meaningful way in which we can pay tribute and honour the sacrifices made by so many veterans who fought for our country in world war two and subsequently.